


I Heard He's A Felon

by Rowby



Category: Flesh of '18
Genre: My friends my rules bitch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-09-22
Packaged: 2019-03-23 03:36:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13778832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rowby/pseuds/Rowby
Summary: SLEEPOVER GONE WRONG??????? WHAT HAPPENS NEXT WILL SHOCK YOU





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a one shot I made with my friends Awsten (not waterparks awsten, my friend awsten) and Hanna! I'm Rowan lmao

“I heard he killed someone in his shower,” the teen whispered, hunched over the table, his head cloaked with his fuzzy pink blanket.

“I heard he invented showers,” his friend said mockingly, rolling their eyes and reaching forward to turn on the lamp in the bedroom, but the other girl in the room grabbed her hand.

“Hang on, I wanna hear this,” Hanna said.

“I mean it!” Awsten said, eyes wide through his wide glasses. “I heard he smashed his face and washed all the blood down the drain. That guy’s a demon.”

“Just because he might have killed someone doesn't mean he's a demon,” Rowan said. They hugged their stuffed dog close to their chest and laid down on the mat they were sleeping on. “I'm tired.”

Awsten scoffed. “Whatever, you know he's real.”

“He's just some stupid soundcloud rapper!” Rowan exclaimed, throwing their hands in the air, then taking their glasses off. “You think way too much into things, Aws.”

“Um,” Hanna said quietly, “Was that window always open?” The window in question was one looking out into the dark street, parted curtains moving with the light breeze of the night.

“Yeah, I opened it when you guys came over.” Awsten threw his blanket off himself and stood up, looking out the window. “It's been nice out, I've been meaning to keep my window open more often.” He stayed there for a moment, taking in the night smells.

Rowan mumbled something under their breath, covering their eyes with their arm. When Hanna inquired what they said, they repeated louder, “Head hurts. Christ.”

“Here.” Hanna reached onto the table and grabbed their can of ginger ale, nudging them with it until they sat up and took it, taking a drink. 

“No idea where this came from…” Rowan rubbed their temple, groaning, “but I am  _ not  _ a fan.”

“Guys!” Awsten cried out, making Rowan wince and Hanna jump. “Guys, guys! Come here, come here! Hurry!”

“What is it?” Hanna asked, coming to the window and looking out. Rowan took a bit longer, coming behind the two.

Awsten was bouncing on his toes, pointing out. “Look, there!” his elation faded quickly, replaced with anger. “Oh, come on! I swear to God, I saw him!”

Rowan groaned again, stumbling away from the window. “You fucking serious?” they ran their hand through their hair, letting it stick up everywhere as they scowled at him.

“I swear to God, Rowan. He was right there at the end of the street!” Awsten. said, grabbing his friend’s arm. “Right there, by the stop sign! Come on, you have to believe me!”

“Until you have solid photo evidence of this shit,” Rowan said, shaking their head. “Hey, I'm gonna cut out for the night, okay? My head is really killing me.”

“‘Night,” Awsten muttered dejectedly, looking out the window again. The wind came to a stop, the curtains hanging still. 

“Hope your head gets better,” Hanna wished as Rowan laid down on their mat, covering their head with their pillow and hugging their stuffed animal to their chest tightly.

“Hanna, you believe me, right?” Awsten looked to his friend, arm hanging out the window. “I swear on my life, Felony Steve is real.”

“It's plausible, but… I dunno, the lines are real blurry.” Hanna shook her head, running her hand through her thick hair, letting the curls flop over her shoulders. “You're a bit too obsessed.”

Awsten sighed, looking out the window again, silent.

“Hey, I didn't mean that as like, you should stop talking about him,” she said, moving to his side, “I meant it, like… you should chill out sometimes about him, you know?”

Awsten didn't offer so much as a scoff. His eyes were laid on the ground below. His body was rigid, stiff, as if he were a robot left to rust for years. It didn't show, but he felt his heart stop.

Slowly, he felt a creeping sense of dread as the streetlights, one by one, cut out. Stars twinkling amongst a dark suburban sky, dying out.

“Awsten?” Hanna lightly tapped his shoulder, not noticing what was happening outside. “Hey, you okay?”

Awsten swallowed hard, snapping out of his rusted trance, vigorously shaking his head. “He's here,” he whispered lowly, and quickly reached up to shut the window.

“Bitch,” a slurred voice sounded, jolting even Rowan, who sat up from their barely-slumber. “Who the fuck you think it is?”

“What the fuck?” Rowan snapped, rather loudly. They stood up, holding their stuffed dog by its floppy arm. They were looking around, fumbling with their glasses. “What was that?”

“Lock the door!” Awsten ordered, finishing his task of slamming the window shut, then doing so himself, tearing across the room and fumbling with shaky hands. “We should be fine, he can't see through glass.”

“Awsten, what the fuck is happening?” Rowan demanded, grabbing the frantic boy by the arm. “Awsten, hey. Breathe. What's going on?” 

“I told you he was real!” Awsten tore his arm away and jumped onto his bed. Loud, screeching noises interrupted what he was going to day next. 

“That's Felony Steve?” Hanna asked, her voice small. She was looking to the window at the man hanging upside down, nails dragging onto the glass. Through sunglasses, red eyes shone. “Oh, my God.”

“Hey, what the fuck, man?!” Rowan yelled, standing up to the window, tossing their stuffed animal to their mat. “What's your problem?”

“Rowan, don't provoke him,” Awsten said. “He's really fucking dangerous. Just… sit down, he'll leave.”

Rowan’s jaw was set, but they complied and stepped away, but didn't sit down. The darkness of the room just made them too anxious to move looking at the monster behind the glass.

All three of them waited for him to leave. Awsten on the bed, Hanna hiding under the window, and Rowan staring the freak dead in the eyes with a stone cold glare.

Still, Felony Steve held a lazy smile as he kept dragging his claws on the glass. He kept saying phrases, but they couldn't be heard through the window. Even if they could hear him, he wouldn't make any sense.

With all the scratching, the window was getting damage dealt. Small spiderwebs of cracks started forming, making all of them cringe from the splitting sound.

“I know what he's trying to do.” Rowan’s breathing got heavy as they finished, “He's gonna break the glass. He's gonna break the fucking glass, oh my God.” They stepped back a little,

Awsten got up off the bed, standing in front of the mirror. “If anybody is going take this guy on, the most equipped is me. Just… stand back.”

“You fucking insane?!” Rowan hissed, reaching forward and grabbing his hoodie, but he was thrown back by the window shattering inwards. “Awsten!” he screamed, feeling Hanna grab onto their arm screaming. “Awsten, hey!” 

The only response that came was the deafening silence. Rowan opened their eyes to shattered glass twinkling in the moonlight, any trace of Awsten gone.

Gone, except for the torn shred of fabric Rowan clutched onto.

“God  _ damn it.”  _ Rowan looked to Hanna to make sure she wasn't hurt; she was only shaking and fearfully looking at the broken window.

“This is fucking ridiculous,” Rowan hissed, “All that was supposed to happen was a sleepover. A goddamn slumber party. And then, look what happens! Our best friend gets kidnapped by some freak!” They ended their small rant with an angry growl, holding their head as Hanna and them trudged side by side through the woods where the shreds of Awsten’ hoodie lead. “And of course, since it's fucking one in the morning,  _ we’re  _ the ones having to play detective like this is fucking Stranger Things! And this fucking headache, I swear to God…”

“Hey, calm down.” Hanna turned up the brightness of her phone light, squinting in the darkness. “We’ll find Awsten, okay? Just chill.” She sighed nervously, toying with the ends of her hair.

Rowan was glad for the darkness, the light not trained on them. Waves of tears were streaming down their cheeks, and they were grabbing at their hair, letting it stick up like a hazardous rock fall. 

“Wouldn't take another step if I were you.”

Felony Steve was holding Awsten by the neck, hanging upside down from a tree like a bat. His lazy grin was spread wide over his face, and as Hanna shone her light on him, the glare of his sunglasses nearly blinded the two.

“Listen, bitch,” he continued, doing a flip off the tree and landing hard on the ground, Awsten hitting the leaf-covered earth even harder as he dropped from the felon’s hands. “Stay back. I don't wanna get any blood on this jacket, man. It's new.” He picked up Awsten by the hair, an inhuman snarl bubbling out of his throat as he grinned at the unconscious boy like a vampire.

“I don't give a shit about your jacket, put Awsten down!” Rowan demanded in a wobbly voice. “Put him down!” He screamed again when Felony Steve didn't move.

“Give him back,” Hanna said, stepping forward a little. “Please, put him down.”

“Put him down, give him back, make up your mind!” Steve cackled. “You'll get him back, don't worry.”

“Alive,” Rowan stressed. “And unharmed. Now.”

“Who are you to tell me what to do, motherfucker?” Felony Steve spat, snarling. “If you want your little shit back, you might wanna be nice.”

“What do you want?” Hanna pleaded, “Wh-what can we do to get Awsten back unharmed?”

It seemed like the demon was waiting for this question. His eyes flashed as he responded without missing a beat. “All of you motherfuckers are coming with me.” His grin seemed to split off his face.

“Geoff…” He bore his red gaze into Rowan’s glare. “Otto…” he looked to Hanna, the stare making Hanna step back. Finally, he looked at the helpless boy in his arms. “and Awsten. The gang’s all here, ain't it?”


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our Perilous Bunch finds themself in a sticky situation........hrm I wonder what will happen.......ooooo......

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On everyone in this fanfic (except Felony Steve ofc) is part of a group chat with me and my friends! They all agreed to be a part of the fic!

“Are we there yet?” Rowan asked in a high voice. It was on purpose, they just wanted to piss off the demon holding them captive. They've asked five times before, loving his reaction each time. Rowan was the type to play with fire, even when they were burned.

The grip on Rowan’s hand got tighter as Felony Steve growled. “If you ask me that again, I will kill you. Don’t. Test me.”

Rowan just rolled their eyes. “Don't call me Geoff, then.”

“And don't call me Otto,” Hanna added. Hanna was the exact opposite of Rowan. If there was a fire, she would stay as far away from it as she could. She's not away complete doormat, however: she won't let herself be shoved around if she could help it.

“Yeah, then what's this freak’s name?” Steve asked, looking to their unconscious friend cradled in his other arm.

“His name is actually Awsten. With the ‘w’ and everything.” Rowan swallowed hard, feeling their stomach turn. They didn't like seeing Awsten in the demon’s arms. He was a gentle soul, and didn't deserve to be even looked at by this Hell abomination. 

“Where are we going?” Rowan asked.

“You'll find out when we get there,” Steve snapped, and then turned to look forward without another word.

“Fuckin’ fantastic.” Rowan held tighter onto Hanna’s hand. “Not even taking us out to eat before we meet the parents?”

“Oh, momma doesn't live with me. She's basically the Devil’s advisor, right hand woman. Y'know, all the important shit. I'm just carrying out orders.” Felony Steve added a bop to his head as he walked, his stride becoming longer, pulling Rowan and Hanna along.

Rowan was not expecting that answer, but kept their mouth shut, trying to decipher what that meant. Was he a demon? Or just some psycho with a god complex? They felt their headache worsen, boring deep into their head and stabbing the central part of their brain.  _ Just a few more steps and you'll be fine,  _ they told themself.

“Here we are!” Steve’s scream jolted Awsten awake, and startled Rowan so bad they flinched back and almost knocked Hanna over. 

“Fucking christ, my ear is right there.” Awsten gradually rose his voice as he glared at Felony Steve.

Rowan let a laugh escape them. “Yeah, no way in fuck do you live here. Where's the bridge and the cardboard box, man?” They looked up at the towering black-brick mansion they were at the gates of, not realizing they were standing on a stone pathway.

“I'm tellin’ you, this is Felony Steve’s crib, motherfucker.” He looked back at Rowan and Hanna, then dropped Awsten on his feet, where he joined them in the scared huddle. “Let’s go, MTV.”

“Is this for real?” Hanna asked Awsten. “Like, this is where he lives and everything?”

“Mm-hmm.” Awsten nodded. “This is bad, he could either kill us or wish we were dead.”

“You've surely done your research,” Felony Steve called back as he opened the gate, dragging the three along. “Anyway, it's about time I tell you what you're gonna do.” As he reached the front door, it opened on its own. “Come on in, have a seat, I'll give you a rundown.”

Rowan started forward first, looking around the interior of the mansion. It looked like something that would take millions- no,  _ billions  _ of dollars to make. Ornate winding staircases built up on either side, and just in front was a den with a fire blazing in the fireplace.

“I  _ said  _ to come in and sit down. In the den, come on.” Felony Steve led them to their seats on the couch, where Rowan tucked into the corner uncomfortably. Awsten sat next to them, and Hanna next to Awsten. Steve took a seat in front of them, his smile never seeming to fade away. “Awsten, I can tell by the name and the hair that you know Waterparks, yeah? What about you two?”

“Duh, we know Waterparks.” Rowan rolled their eyes, “What about them?”

He smiled and cut to the chase quick. “Waterparks doesn't exist here. Not in this little… eh, this little world I made here. Well- okay, I probably should have rephrased that- it's you. You're Waterparks.” He sat back, making wild gestures with his hands. “Geoff, Awsten and Otto don't exist in the same way because they’re  _ you  _ here.”

“I'm sorry, excuse me?” Awsten asked, cocking his head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, you have a show tomorrow, Waterparks. Houston House Of Blues, gotta be there at six p.m. So…” he got up and motioned for them to do the same, leading them to a room off of the den: it was a small practice area, several cords plugged in and running around the floor like tendrils. “You got a show to practice for.”

“Um,” Rowan objected loudly, stepping in front of him, a tight smile on their face. “We don't know how to play any instruments. Plus, I'm the only one here that’s supposed to be in a shitty rock band. Aws and Hanna were supposed to be photographers. I dunno how to play guitar.”

“Well then, Geoff.” Steve took off his shades and looked them in the eye. “That's your problem, not mine. Here's the setlist.” He gave them a crumpled piece of paper and then walked out, slamming the door shut on his way out. A small  _ click  _ locked them in.

“What the fuck?” Hanna whisper-yelled, slowly ambling to the drums. “I-I can't play drums!”

“You think we can play guitar?” Awsten said, running his hand over his hair and flinging the purple curls behind his shoulder. “God, this is the fucking  _ worst _ .”

“Okay, let's see.” Rowan smoothed the paper out on the kick drum, looking at the setlist. “Plum Island is first. Then Crave, Stupid For You, Pink, Blonde…” they turned the paper over and sighed. “There's a fucking encore?!”

“Lucky People, 21 Questions, Easter Egg, and I'm A Natural Blue,” Hanna read, shaking her head. “We haven't even  _ heard  _ Lucky People, it's not out yet!”

“Hey, Felony!” Rowan shouted, banging on the door. “Hey, there's a fucking problem!”

The door swung open, revealing Felony Steve in a bathrobe tinted orange. “What do you want?” he asked, speaking to Rowan as if they were a prissy child. 

“Yeah, there's several problems. First off, we can't fucking learn how to play guitar and drums in less than a day. Second, we can't learn all these fucking songs in less than a day. Third-” Rowan threw their hands in the air. “We don't even fucking know Lucky People! The song isn't out yet!”

Felony Steve only rolled his eyes. “Didn't I already say that's not my problem? You'll figure it out.”

“Fuck, we can't do this!” Awsten said. “We physically cannot do this, dude.”

“For the last time,” he snarled, “That's your problem.” He turned and went to slam the door, but Rowan caught their foot in it just before it shut. 

“Hey, one more thing, man.” Rowan looked around the small room, clicking their tongue.  “I don't know if you've realized, but we’re in fucking Massachusetts. How are we gonna have time to practice  _ and  _ get to Houston in a day?”

Steve chuckled as he put his shades on. “Don't you worry about that, bitch. You just worry your pretty little head about practicing.” then, he shut the door, the lock caging them in once more.

“Fuck, okay. Okay, We-we can try.” Hanna sat at the drums, looking at the sticks in her hands as if they were guns. “Drums can't be that hard, right? I just… I just have to hit them hard."

“Jeez, I feel like I have all the pressure,” Rowan muttered, grabbing the neck of a black and white guitar and sliding the strap over their shoulder. “I have lead guitar.” They grabbed a pick off one of the amps and strummed the strings, tapping their foot. “I don't even know if this is in tune.”

“It's E Standard for their songs, most likely,” Awsten said, biting his lip as he grabbed the iridescent purple guitar leaning on the wall. “Wait. Hanna, Rowan, one of you have your phone?”

“I do,” Hanna said, pulling it out of her pocket. “Want me to call for help?”

“No, that'll slam us into more trouble. Look up the songs and plug your phone in, we’ll have to learn these songs by ear.”

“Wait, first look up a tuning thing. I gotta make sure I'm not playing any bad notes,” Rowan said, nervously picking at the strings.

\----

“How's it hanging in here?” Felony Steve asked a few hours later, leaning on the doorframe. 

“Great,” Hanna muttered sarcastically, yawning. “We barely only know half of Plum Island.”

“And my head is this close to hurting me unconscious,” Rowan grumbled, resting against a large amp and rubbing their head.

Felony Steve clicked his tongue, shaking his head and looking down. “Man, that sucks, doesn't it? You got at least seventeen more hours before you have to be at soundcheck. And if it takes you five hours to learn half of  _ one  _ song…” Steve laughed loudly, sounding like a roar of a lion who was scaring his prey. “You're in deep shit, bitch.”

“Can't you use your magic demon powers and give us some help?” Rowan demanded, “Let us at  _ least  _ know how to play these things.”

“I dunno, man. This is kinda fun. To watch, I mean.  _ But _ …” His eyes weren't visible, but it was obvious he rolled them as he leaned back, “If not, you'll bug the hell out of me when I'm just trying to have dinner. Fine, whatever. What’s in it for me?”

“What?” Hanna inquired. “What do you mean?”

“I can't give you anything if you don't give me anything in return of equal value. Come on, don't you know how deals with demons work?” he asked pointedly, as if everybody should know that.

“We don't have anything to give, we just wanna know how to play these things.”

“You  _ could  _ gimme a few years of your life. It'll only be like, ten or fifteen, nothing biggie.”

“I'm  _ only _ fifteen, dude!” Rowan exclaimed, “That would kill me!”

“No, it'll shorten your lifespan-” Felony groaned, tilting his head back and baring his fangs. “Fuck it, whatever the fuck, let's just do this.”

The room cut to pitch black. The darkness only lasted for a moment, the next several were filled with high pitched whines and red light from no source swirling around the three. Felony Steve was moving around them, little pinprick sensations running along their spines.

Rowan’s headache was splitting. They dropped to the ground, crying out as their nose started bleeding. 

Awsten was breathing heavily, his own nose starting to bleed. His glasses cracked, and his vision went black.

Now, Hanna’s nose was bleeding, and her throat felt like she’s been screaming for years. When she actually tried crying out, her voice failed.

Then, silence. The lights cut back on, and Felony Steve was brushing off his jacket, liking his lips with a satisfied smirk. “There you go,” he said, “Enjoy your instruments. You know how to play them  _ and  _ you know the songs. I took twenty years for that. Might wanna run through the setlist a couple times to get it downpat.” There was no response from the three, who were all breathing heavily. Steve just sighed. “Not so much as a thank you? Ungrateful brats.”

The door shutting was an oddly comforting sound, and Rowan rolled onto their back, sniffing up blood. “Anybody else have an awful headache? God, I wanna  _ die _ , this is fucked.”

“Fucking ow,” Awsten hissed, rubbing his eyes. “Hanna, how you holding up?” he reached for his glasses, then his guitar. It felt more comfortable in his hands.

“Other than my throat hurting, I'm okay,” Hanna reported, her voice scratchy and hoarse. She grabbed the drumsticks, trying to control her breathing again.

“Well, show must go on.” Rowan stood up, grabbing their guitar. “So… anybody got a clue of what they're supposed to be doing?”

Hanna composed herself at the drums, pressing play to start Plum Island for the millionth time. The intro felt sour, they've heard it more than fifty times already, but she still tried her hand at the intro again.

It sounded  _ much  _ better than the previous attempts. She looked wondrously at her hands as they moved, a huge grin overtaking her face.

Then, Rowan joined in with their guitar. None of the strings were muted or sour, it sounded rich, just like how Geoff would have played it.

Then, Awsten’s voice kicked in through the microphone, clear and enthralling.

The whole song was played through flawlessly. When it was over and they were left in silence, they were all staring in awe at each other.

Hanna was the first to laugh, crashing the cymbals in excitement. “Hell yeah!” she exclaimed.

“This is fucking great,” Awsten said, grinning like mad. “Now that we actually know how to play the songs.”

“Wait, we still don't know Lucky People,” Hanna noted. “We’re literally never heard it before.”

“Maybe we can just cut it from the setlist,” Awsten proposed. “We could probably just tell them we forgot it.”

“Yeah, we forgot our own song? They'll totally believe that.” Rowan rolled their eyes and fixed their glasses. “Whatever, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Let's just play through the rest of the set.”

An adrenaline-pumping hour and a half later, all three of them were taking a well-deserved break. Rowan had perched on the top of a large speaker, Awsten sitting under their feet, and Hanna resting against the drumset.

“I think we have it down for tonight,” Awsten said, flicking his pick from hand to hand.

“I've been wanting to be a bassist for the longest time, but guitar isn't too bad.” Rowan leaned back on their palms. 

“I'm tired,” Hanna muttered. “How long have we been up?”

“No clue, but I agree,” Rowan replied, jumping off the speaker and over Awsten, trying to open the door.

To their surprise, it opened.

And to an even bigger surprise, they didn't see Felony Steve’s billion-dollar mansion.

Instead they saw the bunk area of a bandwagon.

“What the fuck?” Rowan turned around to Awsten’s exclamation, and nearly fell down from shock; the practice room was now the back lounge of the bandwagon.

“Hey!” a new voice chirped, and a blonde with a small smile was approaching Rowan. “I was just about to come get you guys. It's almost time to be at soundcheck. You ready?"

_ Holy shit, it's Kath. Oh my god, it's Kath, what's she doing here? What am I doing here? _

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, we're ready as we'll ever be," Awsten said, leaning on Rowan's shoulder. "Last day of tour..."

"Hey, we'll be back on the road before you know it, bud." Kath socked Rowan lightly on the shoukder, taking their hand. "C'mon!"

"I thought you were gonna wear your super baggy rib shirt," Neha said from the front lounge. She was fiddling with her camera around her neck. She peered Rowan curiously.

****_EVEN NEHA IS HERE WHAT THE FUCK._  


"Uh, changed my mind," Rowan replied, grabbing at the sleeves of their green Mountain Dew shirt. "We ready?"

Hanna nodded eagerly. "Let's go...check the sounds." 

 


	3. On In Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Panic attacks and 4th wall breaks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So slight tw for panic attacks, I really wasn't thinking it would get this deep lmao

Soundcheck went smooth.

Meet and greets went even smoother.

Awsten, Rowan and Hanna tried keeping their cool, acting as if they  _ weren't  _ just portaled into an alternate dimension where they were super rockstars with a line of people eager to meet them when in reality they were just three dorks that liked a band too much. In fact they pulled it off pretty well. They smiled through pictures, graciously accepted gifts, but by the end, they were left with thudding hearts and bewildered expressions.

“Everything okay?” Neha asked, waving her hand in Rowan’s face. “Hello? Earth to Rowan?”

“What?” Rowan snapped their head up, then ran a hand through their hair. “Uh yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. I just zoned out.”

“Well, don't zone out halfway through the set,” she replied. “It's last show. You got this.”

“Ha, yeah.” They nodded, staring at the ground for a moment. “Honestly, this tour has been long as hell, y’know? Can't wait to actually go home.”

“Well, you got a Q and A coming up now, but after that you can break a little,” Kath said, “After the openers go on, it's your time to shine.”

“It's about time y’all go answer shit, too,” Neha said. “Go on, I'll catch up.”

Awsten and Hanna were waiting at the door when Rowan joined them. “If the meet and greet is any indicator of how famous we are, I think I'm gonna pass out,” Awsten said.

“Yeah, ditto,” Rowan said. “We just… got thrown into this thing? I swear to God, if I see that freak again…”

“I thought you always wanted to be in a band?” Hanna inquired as they stepped through the doors, going through a hallway on their way to the stage. Rowan just replied with a groan. “Well, as fun as drums are, I also wanna beat Steve for bringing us into this. Like, yeah, it's fun and all, but we didn't get any warning!”

“It's all a part of his thing,” Awsten said. “Remember, I said he could kill us or make us wish we were dead. He's buying into our interests and blinding us so he can make a move.” He arrived first at the stage, waiting in the wings for a moment and looking at the group of fans leaned against the barricade.

“Man, when I said I wanted to go to a Waterparks show, this isn't what I had in mind,” Rowan huffed. “Okay, let's go. No backing out.” They paused, looking at Awsten. “Um… you first.”

Awsten rolled his eyes, pushing Rowan back playfully before walking out into blue lights.

Immediately, they were flooded with cheers and cries. They could only make out faces in the front row, but they all looked ecstatic.

“Hi!” Hanna said, taking a seat at one of three chairs at the edge of the stage, and Awsten and Rowan filled the other two. The lights dimmed, and Awsten shifted the mic in his hands. 

“Hey,” Awsten said, a break in his voice making him wince and pull the mic away from his mouth. “Um, hey. You know us. Uh, Waterparks. We do music and things.”  _ God. The real Awsten wasn't this awkward.  _ Despite the awkwardness, there wasn't any confusion, just laughing.

“So,” Rowan said, taking the mic, noting how uncomfortable Awsten looked. “Right now we're answering questions. So… any questions?” Hands shot up like rockets, voices cried out. Rowan picked a boy wearing a beanie in the second row. “Yeah, you!”

“What's in your pants?” he yelled over the cheering.

Rowan leaned back and rolled their eyes. Then, into the mic, “A black hole. Next!” Laughter. “Seriously, dude. Why does it matter?”

“Hang on,” Hanna said, taking the mic, “What about you? You look like you're about to pass out.”

“Maybe!” The person in question said, earning earning a laugh from Hanna. “Are you gonna tour for Entertainment?”

_ Oh, fuck. Questions I can't answer. _

“That's a hard maybe,” Hanna stammered, “I don't think we're allowed to talk about touring stuff.”

“You'll have to wait,” Awsten said. Hanna handed him the mic. “Anyone else? We’ll be here awhile, y’know.”

They lost count of the questions answered, and track of time. When they were told to get off the stage and Q&A was over, they were in their green room warming up as the openers went on. Neha and Kath seemed to be the only one able to sit, the other three were all pacing nervously. Occasionally, they'd group together and whisper about the situation, but the others caught on quickly.

“Look, I may have been born at night, but it wasn't last night,” Kath said, intruding on their little circle. “What's up?”

“Nothing,” Rowan snapped immediately, “Aside the fact im gonna be playing to a sold out crowd against my will, no biggie!” their words were rushed, panic settling in over them.

“What?” Neha stood up, confusion and  _ ha, bullshit  _ both mixing into her expression.

“Kath, Neha,” Hanna said, “Look, we need to explain something and it's not gonna make a whole lot of sense.”

“Basically,” Rowan butted in, “Some freak demon takes twenty years off our life and throws us into another dimen- another dimension and all of a sudden we’re the super famous band we've been obsessing over.”

“Jesus Christ,” Neha said slowly. “Rowan, this isn't some Waterparks fanfic, what's gotten into you?”

“OKOK STOP SCRATCH FREEZE FRAME”

Wait what

“REALLY A 4TH WALL BREAK”

no wait how did you freeze my fanfic

“IDK YOU'RE WRITING IT”

this is getting really meta

“OUT OF ALL PEOPLE YOU PICK TO BREAK THE 4TH WALL, IT'S THE ENGLISH MAJOR. REALLY. YOU KNOW, THE ONE THAT'S SUPPOSED TO TAKE WRITING SERIOUSLY.”

can u stop yelling at me

“YOU'RE THE ONE WRITING MY SHIT IN all caps oh wowie look there ya go”

OK so why can't I break the 4th wall,  **_N̵͉͓̲̞͈͙̲̬͐͌͒ͤͯͦ͋̒͛̔ͣ̃̐͛̐̂̎͆̃͝E̢̫̣̻͚̼̯͍͇̘̙̗̯͇̒ͭ͛͘H̖̩̺͍̫͖͔͈̪͖̩̩̣͉̍̃͂ͫͣ̾͂̂͌ͫͨ̕͝A̢̻̣͉͔̥̘̬̤̪͈̍̈́̓ͧ͂ͩͥ̃͌͑ͯ̾ͦ͛͂͘͝_ **

“Why the FUCK did you write my name like that”

You tell me idk

“Anyway at least try 2 take this seriously”

Did you just verbally say 2

“No you wrote it so technically I didn't physically say it”

ok maybe we should get back to the story idk how much of this meta bullshit the readers can take

Sorry readers

Where were we OH YEAH ok let's take it from Neha’s line

“Yeah yeah my dumb line”

Shush it's the best I can do

“Rowan, this isn't some Waterparks fanfic, what's gotten into you?” 

“Listen, I know it's hard to believe, but you have to believe us!” Hanna said. “We’re from another dimension, or something? And some demon freak is trying to kill us.”

“Yeah.” Awsten’s been quiet, but now he's starting to speak. “Um, yeah, it's true. He kidnapped us, and portaled us over here. Where we’re from, All five of us are across the country in a group chat. And… Waterparks is made up of three boys. We aren't Waterparks, I-I didn't write these songs. I've never had the experience to write these songs.”

Kath and Neha stood in stunned silence. 

“Look, you think we’re crazy, I know.” Rowan sighed, feeling a pang of dread as, through the muffled walls, a song ended. “We might be. But… fucking hell!” Running a hand over and through their hair as if it was a bad habit, they continued, voice thick. “I can't go up on that stage and play until my fingers bleed pretending to be Geoff. I-I can't sing that part in Crave everybody waits for, I can't do it.” They took their glasses off, scrubbing at their eyes. “I'm sorry.”

“I'm not so sure about going up there as Otto,” Hanna said softly. “I mean, I'm not Otto. I can't go up there saying I'm the drummer for Waterparks when I'm just… not.”

“They kept asking us things we didn't know the answer to,” Rowan choked out, barely comprehensible. “I-I know they were disappointed, they probably hate us for being bo vague about everything.”

“I hate to add to the panic…” Kath said slowly, “...but we can't just call this off now. It's way too late to just duck out of a show. Come on, I know you said you can't do it, but… please?”

“I can't!” Rowan shifted away when Kath tried putting her hand on their shoulder, trying to control their breathing. “I-I can't go out there and- I can't go out and-and do what Geoff does. I'm not Geoff! I'm not some rockstar, I'm just a stupid kid that lives in fucking Alabama.”  _ Just breathe just breathe come on just breathe in and out. _

“Okay. Okay, look-look, look. Do we have, like, a fill-in for Rowan?” Awsten asked. “I'll be fine going up there for tonight, but… I don't think Rowan can do it. Hanna?” He looked to his friend, who was shifting the drumsticks in her hand nervously. 

“I think I'll be fine. Not a whole lot of attention will be on me, so I should be okay.”

“We can't fill in for Rowan, they  _ have  _ to go up there,” Kath said dejectedly. “I'm sorry. Look, would you be okay playing from backstage, would that be fine? We just need you to play, it doesn't have to be onstage.”

“We can just say you had a panic attack,” Neha added, “Which… doesn't seem far off.”

Rowan just stood staring at the ground, hugging themself. The only thing they offered was a barely-nod. Tears gathered in their glasses, but they didn't do anything to take care of it.

“Okay, just sit down.” Kath gently lead them to the couch, letting them sit down, then she handed them a bottle of water. “Drink when you feel like it.”

“You believe us, then?” Hanna asked hopefully.

Kath breathed in slowly. “I can't say I do,” she said honestly, “But… I can't just make Rowan go onstage in the middle of a panic attack. We… we’ll talk about this later. I…” she took her glasses off, rubbing her tired eyes. “It's been a long day, and now this whole thing.”

“Same here,” Neha said. “All of a sudden, you're bringing up demons and shit, when we've never seen you guys act like this. So, if this is some kind of prank, just stop. Right now.” No hesitation in a threatening tone from Neha. Though there was a waver of regret in her eyes, she stood firmly.

“It's not a joke,” Rowan snapped, probably harsher than they intended. “You think I'd fake having a panic attack?”

“I never said that. It's just that y’all all of a sudden acting like this is… a little concerning. Shady, kinda.”

“We’re telling the truth,” Awsten said. “We… we don't belong here. We were brought here without warning just before soundcheck. The demon, he apparently took twenty years off our life, and… I don't know now. I don't know what his game is, but I'm not gonna play it.”

“What if we’re playing it right now?” Rowan asked, now standing on shaky legs. “I mean, we don't know what he's doing. We could be playing right into his hands and we don't even know it.”

“Whatever you're talking about, don't dwell on it,” Neha said quickly. “Water. Drink it. Breathe. Just calm down for a few minutes. You can freak out after the show, and you can explain everything on the bus.”

“That seems like the best option,” Hanna said, moving to pat Rowan on the back. “For now, we should just focus on the show.”

“I don't think I'll be able to play in front of everyone,” Rowan mumbled, “It was a whole lot easier when it was just us practicing.”

“So, just pretend it's us practicing,” Awsten said softly. “Okay? We’ll have lights shining in our face the whole time, just pretend we’re alone.” He looked down, fidgeting a moment. “Uh, one last thing… I, uh… since Entertainment isn't out where we’re from, we don't know Lucky People. We can't play a song we don't know.”

Kath blew out a breath, clearly agitated. “Okay,” she said sharply. “Okay, okay. It's at the end of the set, and they don't know it's gonna happen, so we can just cut it. Anything else we should know?”

“That's it,” Awsten said. “I'm sorry. This is too much to handle at once. But, we needed to tell you sooner or later.”

“And the more questions we ask, the more questions there are,” Neha said. “Look, can we just drop it for now? And… talk about it later when we actually get through with this show?”

There was a silent agreement between everyone, and they all sat down near each other. Rowan finally gathered the strength to finally take a drink from the water bottle.

It seemed like just a few minutes when someone popped their head in.

“Waterparks, you're on in five.”


	4. Lmao

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I legit wasn't expecting this fic to get so serious like this was so posed to be funny but all of a sudden oh no

As soon as Awsten and Hanna made it onstage, confusion settled over the crowd. Awsten shifted his pick between his fingers as he stepped up to the mic. “Hey,” he greeted softly, “um, Rowan won't be playing onstage with us. They had a pretty bad panic attack before the show, and they'll just be playing backstage.”

A hushed, somewhat unanimous “Oh, shit,” wafted through the crowd, then scattered “I hope they're okay!” And similar phrases cheered out.

“They'll be fine,” Awsten promised, “But that's why Rowan isn't gonna be onstage tonight.”

“Don't worry!” Hanna said from her spot at the drums, “Rowan is fine, let's play some fuckin’ music like we came here to do!”

And just like that, the intro to Plum Island kicked in, along with Rowan’s guitar backstage.

Halfway through the set, their blood pumping and fans cheering, Awsten caught a glimpse of somebody in the back. Somebody familiar.

Then, right at the end of Blonde, Rowan’s guitar cut out.

Time seemed to freeze, literally. The fans were frozen, but Felony Steve pushed through them like they were nothing and climbed onto the stage. “Nice show,” he said in his lazy growl. “You're doing good.”

“The hell is going on?” Hanna demanded. She stepped over her drums and joined up next to Awsten. Rowan came out from backstage shortly after.

“Just saying, you got a good show going on. It would really be a shame if-”

Rowan already wasn't dealing with whatever he was going to do. They lurched forward and slammed their fist into his mouth. “Fuck you!” they screamed, kicking him as hard as they could in his shin.

“I thought you always wanted to be in a band, Rowboat.” He smiled lazily--rather, the smile never left his face--as he fixed his shades so the red glow of his eyes wasn't visible. It was as if the force of Rowan’s attack wasn't even there.

“This is completely different!” Rowan cried, “You can't just fuck us over like this! Everyone thinks we’re fucking insane!” they grabbed at their hair.

“Maybe you are.” Steve shrugged. 

“We’re not, you fucking-” This time, Steve anticipated Rowan’s charge and slammed them into the ground.

“Hey, stop!” Awsten cried, trying to shove him off, but he overpowered all of them and threw them all back. Hanna slammed into the drums, knocking them down and following was Awsten, who landed on top of Hanna and knocked the breath out of them both. Rowan slid right into front of the drums, coughing and breathing shakily.

“You're all idiots,” Felony said, “You really think you can stop me? I'm a motherfucking  _ demon  _ and you're three teenagers. Human teenagers, at that. Bitch, just stop trying.” He directed the last sentence at Hanna when she got up.

“You're just gonna kill us,” Hanna snapped, “Might as well go down swinging, huh?”

“Felony Bitch,” Rowan spat, and they couldn't help but laugh. Then, they looked out to the frozen crowd. “Anyway, hey. You mind fucking off and letting us finish this show? Then we can duke it out behind the venue.” Their breathing was heavy, but they stood their ground, as shaky as they were.

“Really?” Felony snickered. “You three against me?”

“Yeah, I mean it, but you and me. One on one after the show. Hanna and Awsten having nothing to do with it.”

He laughed again, then nodded. “Fine. What if you win?”

“You let us go back home. Back to our dimension, and leave us alone. Leave everything alone, fuck off.”

“Rowan,” Awsten hissed, staggering to his feet. “Hey, what the fuck?”

“And what if you lose?” Felony asked, louder than Awsten.

Rowan licked their lips, looking back at Hanna and Awsten. They knew what they wanted to say, but hesitated.  _ No going back c’mon.  _

“Then… you let Hanna and Awsten go back while I stay here. They'll have nothing to do with this fight, just me.”

“No!” Hanna snapped, running up and grabbing Rowan’s arm. “Rowan, are you fucking crazy?!”

“Listen. If I lose, I don't want you guys to suffer collective punishment. If I win, we all win. Pretty fair.”

“Sounds fair to me.” He held out his hand. “Shake on it. Fight one on one after the show. If you win, all three of you go home and I leave everyone alone. If I win, you stay with me and they go home.”

“Rowan, you better fucking not,” Awsten demanded shakily.

“Rowan, come on-”

“Sorry.” Rowan gave them a half-forced grin, then thrust their hand forward and firmly shook his hand. A red pulse shot from their joined hands, settling over them for a moment before fading. The deal was done.

“You're a fucking idiot,” Awsten said, stepping back.

“Maybe.” Rowan shrugged. “But either way, you guys are okay. That's fine with me.”

“Not with me!” Hanna said.

“Sorry. Deal’s done. Have fun with your show.” He snapped his fingers, and the drums righted themselves, Rowan and Awsten’s guitars appeared in their hands. Then, as he disappeared, the crowd unfroze.

They were silent for a bit as the music and lights died down, but Rowan coughed after a bit. “Hi!” They said, “Um, I'm feeling better…kinda.”

“You sure?” they heard someone call out.

“Yeah, I'm fine!” they forced a grin and threw their arm up. “Let's play some fuckin’ music, c’mon, now!” They looked to Awsten, who was staring at them, a mix of anger and disbelief written all over his face.

And, just like that, the elation and energy in the room kicked back up. It Follows brought the mood back up, and by the time Mad All The Time came around, Rowan forgot about their deal with Felony Steve. Awsten’s anger chipped away, and Hanna got got a little less uneasy. 

By the time the end of the show tolled, all three of them wanted to do it all over again. Rowan saw how bands could love touring. Nothing beats the energy, the adrenaline.

“We’re Waterparks, thank you!” Awsten said to earn a final cheer. “We’ll see you later!”

Backstage, however, as Rowan put their guitar down, Awsten snatched their shoulder. 

“Hey, that was a great show!” Kath said, but stopped upon seeing the anger and fear. “Woah, what's going on?”

“We’ll explain later, on the bus,” Awsten said, not taking his glare off of Rowan. “But basically, Rowan made a stupid fucking decision that I’ll never forgive them for.”

“Jesus Christ, will you chill out?” Rowan asked, stepping back a little bit. “It’s not that big of a deal-”

“Yes, it is! Are you even hearing yourself?” Awsten threw his hands in the air. “Oh, no big deal, I'm just throwing my life away for no fucking reason!”

“It's not for no reason! I'm trying to help you and Hanna!” Their voice was already growing thick, tears shining in their eyes.

“What about yourself!?” Awsten screamed.

“Hey!” Neha yelled, jumping between Awsten and Rowan, hands out. “Both of you, fucking calm down. Stop screaming, just stop. I don't care what the fuck happened, you two need to stop.”

“Tell that to Rowan,” Awsten snapped.

“What happened?” Kath asked. She looked to Hanna, biting her lip. “Talk, one of you.”

“It's to do with the whole demon thing,” Hanna said. “The demon that brought us here he froze the show and, um… Rowan agreed to fight him.”

“Thanks to that,” Awsten picked up, “Rowan’s gonna get their ass kicked.”

“Either way, you and Hanna aren't gonna suffer because of my stupid decision!” Rowan said, biting the inside of their cheek.

“What about the fact that we might not ever fucking see you again, huh?” Awsten’s voice started rising again.

“We can back you up,” Kath offered.

“Nope. We agreed it was one-on-one. He's probably waiting outside.”

“Jesus fucking christ,” Neha exhaled.

“That's what  _ I'm  _ saying,” Awsten muttered. 

“Whatever, okay. Who's this fucker again?”

“He calls himself Felony Steve,” Hanna said. “He, uh...He wears really expensive looking stuff, wears shades and has purple hair.”

“He's a demon, too, so I'm pretty sure he has the upper hand against a teenager,” Awsten muttered distastefully. 

Rowan sighed, leaning against the wall. It sounded like they wanted to say something but nothing came out. They hugged themself, shaking while tears flickered in the light before dropping.

“C’mon, on the bus,” Neha ordered, “Now. All of you.” She was merely the photographer, but acted so much like a tour manager.

The bus was quiet. Rowan had immediately retreated to their bunk as soon as they could, and Awsten wasn't that far behind them. Hanna stayed and filled in Neha and Kath as best as she could. Hell, it  _ did  _ sound like a fan fiction when she explained it (probably bc it IS one, ever think about that hanna).

Right as Hanna got done explaining and was heading to bed, the lights in the bus flashed off. 

Then, the bus abruptly skidded to a halt.

“What the fuck?” Kath stood from her spot on the couch. “Hey, what's going on?”

"Oh no," Hanna whimpered.

Then, a loud banging on the door ensued.

“ROWAN! WE HAD A DEAL!”


	5. LMAOOOO

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> GET FUCKED FELONY BASTARD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHAT THE FUCK THIS ACTUALLY HAS A PLOT NOW OOPS

Even when the bus door was pried open, Rowan didn't move from their bunk.

Even when Felony Steve jerked the curtain open, they stayed in the same position, staring into his raging eyes.

“We had a deal,” Felony Steve repeated. “And we’re doing it right now.”

“‘Kay.” Rowan slowly breathed in, then slipped out of their bunk, looking to Neha and Kath, who were standing in a complete frozen shock, mouths open and eyes trained on the demon. “Sorry, guys, guess we’re doing this now.”

“no, nonono, what the hell?” Kath said. “Excuse me, but who the fuck are you?”

“That's Felony Steve.” Awsten swept out of their bunk, eyeing him down. “The question is what he's doing here.”

“You can't back out of a deal with a demon,” Steve snarled. “We agreed, after the show behind the venue.”

“Huh.” Rowan didn't look scared at all. In fact, they looked more stoned. “Guess we did. But the thing is you didn't specify how long after the show. You just said after the show.”

“Wait-”

“But, I guess since you wanna do this now, I suppose we can,” Rowan interrupted. “Okay, fight time! But, just so we’re clear-”

“Rowan, what the hell are you doing?” Neha exclaimed.

“Just so we’re clear…” Rowan repeated, not tearing their gaze away from Felony Steve eyes, fuming from behind his shades. “This is a one on one fight, I'm throwing all the punches?”

“Yes,” Steve hissed, his fists clenched tight. “You and me, right now.”

“Alright. And if I win-” 

“Then all of you get to go home. If you lose, you stay and Otto and Awsten go home. We've fucking been over this!”

Rowan outstretched their hand. “Shake on it again, just so we’re clear.”

Steve practically roared with anger, quickly snatching their hand and jerking it up and down in a firm handshake, the same red from before pulsing from their conjoined hands. Then, without letting go, he threw them out of the open door and onto hard concrete.

“Hey, excuse me!” Neha grabbed the demons hood, trying to yank him away from Rowan, who was struggling to sit up with a bloody eye. “What the fuck is your problem!?”

“My  _ problem _ -” Steve threw his hand back, slamming Neha into the wall of the bus, talking over her scream- “is that Geoff over here tried worming his way out of our deal! I'm not letting some podunk hick boy get in the way of me and my status. Sorry, motherfucker.”

“Hey!” Rowan cried, high and shrill. “This is on you and me, bitch!” Now they were standing, chest heaving with their heavy, angry breaths.

In the snap of his fingers, they were back behind the venue. People were still leaving, not seeming to noticed them just yet.

“Okay.  _ Now  _ can we-”

“Ah!” Rowan stuttered, wiping the blood from their face, cutting him off and digging into their pocket and pulling out their phone. “Hang on, now. You know the best part about a fight is the music, right?”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Felony screamed, getting attention of everyone nearby. There were a few exclamations of fans recognizing them, but keeping back upon reading the room. Soon enough, as Rowan was scrolling through their Spotify, a mosh-style crowd had formed.

“Rowan, you don't have to do this,” Awsten called from the crowd, jaw set. “Come on, just drop it.”

“He made a fucking deal!” Felony hissed, turning and stumble-running towards Awsten, but stopping once he slammed into the wall of an invisible barrier. Still, the crowd jumped back. “He is not backing out of this shit, and you can't make him,” he spat, slamming his hand into the barrier to jostle them further back, then looked at Rowan, still scrolling through Spotify to find the right song. They don't even have premium, just hit shuffle and wait for it to come on, you useless bisexual.

Rowan seemed to ponder as they shuffled through their music. “You a fan of Anarbor?” They asked. When they only received a frustrated scream in response, they added, “Oh, I see. You're more of a Fall Out Boy fan? I feel, I feel.” 

Finally, after what seemed like ages to Felony Steve (but was just a couple minutes, fuckin drama queen), Rowan looked Steve dead in the eyes. “Found it.” They hit play, but then paused it. “Does anyone have a portable speaker?” They called, looking around the crowd. “I don't want this to be a silent type deal, I want this to be a god damn mosh pit!”

“Rowan, what the hell!” Hanna screamed, wiping her face. “Get over here!”

“If I'm gonna die, I wanna go out the punkest way possible!” Rowan screamed. “I want it to be loud, I want it to angry! So  _ please, _ does  _ anybody  _ have a portable speaker!?”

Several people handed them speakers, so it was extra waiting time to get their phone synced up to all of them. By now, Felony Steve was pacing like a hungry caged beast, snarling and huffing with every breath. Hanna was sure she saw his jaw unhinge.

“Alright.” Rowan looked at their phone, then pressed play on a playlist titled  _ DEATH TIME _ . “Now, let's-”

They were cut off by Spotify: “Watch this short video to get thirty minutes of uninterrupted listening.”

“Oops. I don't have Premium, gimme a sec.”

Felony Steve roared, curling his hand into a fist and charging. The whole crowd screamed.

Rowan didn't even flinch. They didn't have to, nothing hit them. 

Felony Steve’s hand connected with a red barrier, flashing bright pain through his whole hand.

“WHAT THE FUCK!” he screamed, clutching his hand and keeling over. “What's going on!?”

“Sorry, Steven,” Rowan muttered, the smallest hint of a grin on their face as the ad closed, leaving the intro I Don't Care by Fall Out Boy to start. “Don't you remember our deal?  _ I'm  _ the one throwing all the punches. You can't punch me.” Then, they wound up their arm and thrust forward to the beat of the song roaring around them to knock Steve to the ground. “We even shook on it.”

“ _ Oh, you little _ -!”

“And, I know we said that it was one on one, yeah, I'm the one throwing all the punches, and nobody else can fight you.” Rowan paused to listen to the music, tapping their foot lightly. Then they snapped their head to Steve, who they could swore see flinch back a little. “no  _ body  _ else. Never said anything about no  _ thing _ .”

“Rowan oh my fucking god,” Awsten breathed out, slumping against Hanna and covering their face, probably to hide tears. “You're a genius idiot, you know that!”

“Hey, Awsie,” Rowan called, “Mind lending me a hand and throwing some shit at him?”

Suddenly, a phone came sailing their way, hitting Felony right in the head. SOMEHOW, Rowan’s theory worked. They picked up the phone, took a quick selfie, then handed it back, letting the music slam into the chorus before they turned to the audience, singing along to the music.

“I don’t care just what you think, as long as it’s about me!” 

Felony snarled and charged them, but someone threw a fair-sized rock at his head. Awsten and Hanna had pressed against the barrier, taking rocks, shoes, just about anything to throw at him.

Rowan by now was treating it like a real mosh pit. They jumped, cried out to the music, and of course beat the shit outta that dude. That duuuuuuuude. Fuck that dude amirite. That duude.

By the end of the song, Felony was laid on the ground with several bloody spots on his head and shoulders. Should have used that 2 in 1 amirite? Rowan still didn’t let up because FUCK that dude, they’re getting some good-ass payback. Hell yeah. 

“Okay, I think we’re done here.” Rowan panted heavily, wishing they could take off their shirt. But they haven’t had top surgery so :/ can’t exactly flash ur whole audience. I mean you could but it’s not good for the reputation y’know. “Now you got your end of the deal to fill out. Take us home.” 

Felony was quiet, except for his heavy panting and coughing up black blood. LMao what a fuckin scrub.

“Think we need to give him a sec,” Awsten said, strolling up and putting an arm around Rowan’s shoulders. Now that the fight was over, the barrier had disappeared. “I think it’s still clicking with him that he lost to a kid.”

“A malnourished kid with no background of fighting,” Rowan added.

“Come on,” Hanna scoffed, nudging him with her foot. “Get up and walk it off, you shit.”

Rowan couldn’t help but snicker in surprise; it was rare that Hanna let her anger show this much, but it was always pleasing for Rowan to know she wasn’t bottling everything up. They came forward and wrapped their arms around both of their necks, finally letting their tears spill out of their eyes. “We’re going home,” they whispered, hugging them tighter for just a second before pulling away.

“Hey, forget you saw all this!” Kath started crying out to the audience, “Please, delete all the pictures and videos, don’t share anything about this. It’s super complicated.”

“We mean it!” Neha added. “This wasn’t staged, just go home and forget you saw this!”

“They will,” Felony Steve choked, Finally able to get to his knees. “‘Cept… y’know, rest of ‘em.”

“I don’t want another cryptic thing coming out of your mouth,” Awsten snapped, “Tell us directly instead of making us guess, now."

“Fine,” Felony hissed, blood spewing onto the concrete. “The rest of your little clique. Flesh of ‘18, remember? They’re all here somewhere. They all play a role.”

“Name all of them,” Rowan demanded. If this was the real deal, they needed to know how many of their friends were stuck here.

“Well, I got you three covered, you already met Kath and Neha. Schelle, Jack, Laur, Jess and Em are here somewhere. Tell ya what.” Now, he was standing unstable. “If you can bring all of them to me, I’ll send you all home. Every single one.”

“And then you’ll leave us alone?”

“All of ya, bitch.”

“Shake on it. If we can get Jack, Schelle, Em, Jess and Laur here-”

“In three weeks.”

“Of course there’s a time limit…” Rowan scoffed.

“Isn’t there always with these kinds of stories?”

“Yeah, but the author could take it easy on us, eh?”

No, Rowan, you have a time limit.

“Dammit.”

Sorry but idk how else to further the plot.

“Okay fine, three weeks,” Rowan agreed, acting as if they weren’t just talking to their God and also irl counterpart. “If everyone gets here, you send us all home. All of Flesh of ‘18.”

“And if you can’t get everyone, then you come with me back home.”

“Wha-”

_ “-my  _ home. Anyone you gather goes home, but if everyone ain’t here, you come with me.”

Rowan stepped back at that, feeling a pang in their stomach.

“No,” Awsten cut in, “No more life-threatening deals for you. I’ll do it.”

“Oh, so  _ you  _ get to put yourself in danger?”

Awsten thrust their hand out, immediately shaking his hand. With a pulse of red, the deal was sealed.

“This is not the right time for payback,” Rowan growled, but moved back and to Hanna, arms crossed with nails digging into their arms. Hanna just leaned into their shoulder, silent and staring in horror. 

“I think it’s the right time, Geoffers,” Felony replied, stepping back and grinning, slipping his shades down to bore his red eyes into Rowan’s. “Watch each other’s backs if you want.” 

He winked, and with that, he bent down low, and a gust of wind hit the five as a great pair of black leathery wings sprouted from his back. He took off with a force that sent all of then staggering back, looking up as he soared into the sky, out of sight.

Hanna took a deep breath, still staring at the sky, then turned to Awsten. “What the fuck do you think you're doing!?” She cried.

“I'm making sure Rowan doesn't get themself killed,” Awsten said. They were about to add on, but Hanna cut them off by shoving them back.

“What, so you think it's okay to just give yourself up like that? You were worried fucking sick when Rowan did it, how the hell do you think  _ I  _ feel!?”

“Hanna, I'll be fine-"

“You didn't exactly leave room for loopholes,” Rowan interrupted, rolling their tongue along their teeth. “I did. I had a plan this entire goddamn time, what's yours?”

“I-!” Awsten hesitated upon seeing Kath and Neha coming closer. “Whatever, I got this under control.”

“Do you really?” Kath asked, “Because by the looks of it-”

“We’re gonna be fine,” Awsten cut off.

“We were about to go home!” Rowan yelled. “We could have made him take us home! But  _ no, _ you had to go ahead and risk  _ your  _ life because you're still mad at me, is that it?”

“Hey!” Neha cut into the little circle they had formed, arms out. “Everyone, cut it out. Please can we just get to the van and explain all this rationally? What did you just agree to?”

Rowan took off their glasses, wiping at their eyes and sighing, noticing the van behind them. “Let’s get to the van. I'm… I need to fucking sleep.”

“I’ll explain,” Awsten muttered, head low.

“Me too,” Hanna added, all hostility out of her voice. “Let's… let's just go.”

The van was silent for quite a while, but Awsten and Hanna seemed to have made up for now. Rowan was dead silent in their bunk, getting sleep they deserved. Kath was driving and Neha was sitting in the couch across from Awsten and Hanna, trying to keep her eyes on her phone and out of their business, as they looked extremely tired. No use trying to get an explanation from them all sleep-deprived and delirious. 

“Get to your bunks,” Neha said softly, “You two need to sleep.”

“But we still need to…” Awsten stopped themself with a yawn, and not soon after, Hanna and Neha were yawning. 

“We can get everything situated in the morning,” Neha murmured, rubbing her eyes and sweeping her hair out of her face. “Just… go to bed.”

They both obeyed, shuffling to their bunks and whispering wishes of a good night. Not soon after, Neha followed, and the bus was quiet.


	6. JACKIE BOO

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> JACK'S A GOOD BOY AND SO ARE HIS DOGS (AND CAT)

By noon the next day, they had returned to their home in this dimension, which was stationed in Houston, Texas. Apparently all five of them lived there. Wildt. All Rowan remembered of he night and early morning was being woken up in their bunk because they had to return the bandwagon.

“Rowan,” Kath had cooed, sliding the curtain open to see Rowan still slumbering. “Rowan, c’mon.”

Rowan mumbled something, sinking back further into the bunk and holding their stuffed dog close to their chest.

“Rowan,” Neha tried, “We gotta return the bus. You can sleep in the car.”

Hanna huffed, reaching up and grabbing their arm to shake them awake. “Row-”

At that, Rowan’s eyes snapped open, and they hissed and jolted up, hitting their head on the top of the bunk. “Ow, fuck…”

“Rowan, c’mon,” Kath said, “We gotta return the bandwagon. Make sure you got everything from your bunk.”

“Um...yeah.” They looked around, holding their head as they gathered their stuffed dog, phone, charger and blanket. “Okay, got it.”

It was odd that nobody questioned Rowan hissing, but then again they hissed all the time. To anything. Look at their chips? Hiss. Beat them at thumb wrestling? hiss. Wake them up after they risked their life fighting a demon that could have totally killed them if they didn’t take advantage of loopholes? Hissity hiss hiss motherfucker.

Now, in early afternoon, All three had congregated downstairs (Yeah apparently they’re so rich they can afford a TWO STORY HOUSE) to Kath and Neha eating out of the fridge in the kitchen, seeming to be waiting for them.

“We got a lot of talking to do,” Awsten said, knowing that’s what was on their minds. “I know. We’ll explain everything.”

“Better not sound like a fanfic you stole offa AO3,” Neha said, picking up her sandwich and following them to the living room. Neha u wet sock this IS a fanfic offa AO3.

“Okay,” Rowan started, the slurs of sleep still evident in their voice. “So, we were having a sleepover, right? My dad and Hanna’s agreed to take us up to Massachusetts to Awsten’s place. It was going okay…”

Y’know i was gonna recap the fic so far but that would be annoying bc yall been knew whats going on so…

“And here we are,” Awsten finished after telling the story. “It’s wild, but you saw him sprout wings! And that whole barrier during the fight!”

“So, lemme get this straight,” Kath said, “You were forced into an alternate dimension--this one-- by a demon. And then you make a deal with him, and then you make _another_ deal, and now we have to find some people we don’t even know?”

“That’s the thing,” Rowan said, “In our dimension, all of us are across the country, but we have a group chat. That’s what he meant by Flesh of ‘18. That’s the name of our group chat.”

“By the way,” Hanna cut in, “Its super good to see you guys. I-I mean, I didn't think all of us would be in the same room together.” She let Awsten take over once she was finished with a happy nod.

“Jack, Schelle, Laur, Em and Jess are the rest of the Flesh of ‘18 members. No clue where they could be, though.” Awsten sat back and stole a glance at Rowan, who seemed to be nodding off again.

“Wait… Jack, as in...hang on.” Kath dug out her phone, tapping a few times, then showing a photo to the three. Well. Two, Rowan seemed to be cat napping. “Him?”

“Yeah!” Hanna jumped in her seat, jostling Rowan awake for just a few seconds. “That's him, that's Jack!”

“Dude, Jack lives in the next town over. We visit him all the time,” Kath said.

“I’m sure he’s okay,” Neha added upon seeing their worried glances. “I mean, he was at the show last night, and I’m pretty sure he saw the fight, too.”

“Has he texted you guys?” Hanna asked.

“No, but…” Kath pulled her phone to her chest. “...Have you guys checked your phones? They should be going off like crazy.”

Awsten pulled their phone away from their hoodie pocket, opening it up and was taken back by the sheer amount of messages, mostly from Twitter. “What happened? Jeez.”

“While you guys were sleeping, we dropped the music video. Must be fans going wild.” Kath saw their expressions again, and sighed heavily. “Right, different dimension. The video for Lucky People, it dropped at noon.”

“Oh…” Awsten sat back, And Hanna just took Awsten’s phone to scroll through all the messages.

A loud chime sounded, and Neha took _her_ phone out. Phone party fuck yeaaaaaaah.

“It’s Jack,” she announced, and immediately returned the call, putting it on speakerphone. “Hello?”

“Neha.” Jack’s voice was shaky, evident of tears. “I-I need you to come here, quick. Maybe Kath, too? I-I dunno what’s going on.”

Finally, Rowan sat up, but was still dreary. “What’s going on?”

“Jack, are you okay?” Neha asked quickly, standing up. “Jack?”

“I’m forgetting shit,” Jack answered, “I-I woke up at two this afternoon, and I don’t know where I am. I mean- I-I’m at home, but…”

“We’re on our way,” Neha said, “I’ll bring Kath, we’ll be there in twenty. Okay?”

“Okay...please hurry, I’m kinda freaking out.”

Neha sighed, looking around. “Okay, me and Kath are going to Jack’s, any of you wanna come along?”

“I’ll go,” Hanna said, standing up, “that got me really worried.”

“Me too,” Awsten said, taking their phone back from Hanna and tapping their fingers along their case.

“Y’know, I’m… I’ll stay behind,” Rowan announced with a yawn. “I’m just….really tired. Like, Jack is worrying me, but you guys have it under control, right.”

“You literally slept for a straight twelve hours.”

“I’m still tired.”

“Okay, fine,” Neha said, her tone perking everyone to her. “Rowan, just chill out, catch some sleep, we’ll update you on Jack.”

“Sounds good,” Rowan said, giving a lazy thumbs-up and laying back down on the couch.

When everyone left and Rowan was left by themself, they were basically slipping into REM sleep. Still, something stirred in their stomach. Maybe it was the fact that this definitely _wasn’t_ their home, but sleep wouldn’t let them dwell on it. Maybe in their nightmares, but not now.

The four had arrived at Jack’s house, and all seemed normal. His cat was sitting on the windowsill, the dogs preferring to scratch and bark at the door.

Then, Jack emerged from the door. Blonde hair a mess and glasses crooked. Rather than dress up, he opted for shorts unable to be seen from under an oversized Waterparks hoodie. Hs eyes were just as red as his cheeks, indicating that he probably just got done crying.

“Jack, what's going on?” Neha asked, first to approach. Jack leaned into her shoulder for a hug as he answered.

“I-I dunno. I woke up this morning, and I keep forgetting shit. All I know is that, apparently I live here. I don't know anything else, like... How the hell did I even get here? Wh-what is even happening!?”

“Okay,” Kath said, looking back to Awsten and Hanna. “Do you remember the show last night?”

“Um… yeah? I heard something about a fight, but I didn't stick around for it.” He looked to Awsten and Hanna, then down to his Malamute who was begging for attention. “Where's Rowan?”

“Sleeping,” Awsten answered. “Dunno why, but they were exhausted when we woke ‘em up. They...they got into a fight yesterday.”

Jack took a little step back, biting his lip. “Um, why don't y’all come inside? I need to sit down, and it's hot out.”

Inside Jack’s house was especially cold, probably for his Malamute. That kind of dog in Texas wasn't the best combo, but Jack made it work. “So, please, fill me in on everything. I-I can't remember anything.” He took a seat on the couch, and his little corgi took a few tries jumping onto the couch before Jack bent over and picked him up, putting him on his lap. Fuckin cute little corgo. Also I'm not a monster the dogs will be okay. So will the cat. Trust me on this.

“Okay. Last night before the show, Awsten, Hanna and Rowan started acting weird,” Neha said, sitting beside him and scratching the corgi’s chin. “Apparently, they're from a completely different dimension altogether.”

“And, we aren't a band in ours,” Awsten said, “We’re just….kids. Waterparks is actually three guys that we’re all fans of.”

Jack leaned back with a sigh. “How did they get here, then?” he asked, deciding to entertain the Alternate Universe Theory for a bit.

“A demon,” Hanna answered. “His name is Felony Steve, and he's the one that got in a fight with Rowan last night. He's been really aggressive towards us.”

Great. Now Jack has to entertain the thought of angels and demons, meaning there's also a Heaven and Hell, and so much other shit he doesn't wanna think about. The malamute, Balto, snuffed and decided that Hanna’s lap was a good place to rest his head as she and Awsten sat down. Obviously, Hanna had to pet the good pupper. He just…...such a good pup that's bigger than her entire body.

The corgi, Honeylemon, panted happily, content with staying curled up in Jack’s lap. The cat, Phil, was perfectly fine on the windowsill.

“The demon thing is real,” Kath said. “That freak sprouted wings. He…” Kath shook her head. “Someone else explain, this where I get confused.”

“Okay,” Awsten said, “Felony Steve made a deal with us, that if we could get all of our friends together, he’d send us all home where we belong. If not. Then… he does whatever he wants with me, which considering how much he hates me, I'm probably gonna die... I-I took the deal.”

“So… okay, is this somehow tied to my memory going to shit?” Jack asked, starting to bounce his leg. “Like, who is this bastard?”

Suddenly, the cold air went colder. Balto perked his head up, alert. Honeylemon’s ears twitched, and she stood off of Jack’s lap to face the door. Phil leaped off the windowsill, now pacing around the door, back arched and tail fluffed up to twice its size.

“Oh, _goddammit._ ” Awsten stood up with an eye roll. “Guys, stand back, away from the door.”

As if on cue, the door opened, revealing the silhouette of a familiar demon in a puffy, tacky coat with the tag still hanging off the hood. Large wings hung from his back on both sides.

“What's up, bitches?”

Balto assumed a defensive stance in front of Jack, Kath and Neha, lips peeled back to reveal a toothy snarl. A bark was threatening to explode from his body, but he just growled for now. Honeylemon was scared, hiding behind the couch with her ears pinned back, eyes wide. Phil hissed and spat, clawing at his pants when he walked in, but Steve just softly kicked him aside.

“The fuck are you doing here?” Awsten walked up to him, stopping him from intruding any further into the house. They had the stone cold look of an unimpressed judge, arms crossed defiantly.

“What, I heard you were talking shit about me. Only fair I come to see what the fuss is about?” He looked around, eyes settled on Jack. “Where's Geoff?”

“ _Rowan_ is none of your business,” Awsten snapped, pushing him to the door. Felony snatched their hand with an unnerving grin.

Then, he started to laugh. Laughter turned to full on cackling. “None of my business!? Oh, Aws, you're great. Really, you're great! Good one!”

“What the hell is so funny?” Hanna asked, “Why are you even here?”

“What, do I bother you?” He cut his laughter off in an instant. “I just came to congratulate you. One down, four to go. The clock is ticking, kid.”

“We have time,” Awsten said. “They can't be that far.”

Felony looked like he wanted to say something, but he just shut his mouth and smiled. Then. As he turned, he made sure to smack both of them with his wings on the way out.

The door shut, but none of the animals untensed. Neither did the humans. Awsten and Hanna had shifted closer to the rest, Hanna holding Awsten’s sleeve nervously.

“That was the demon?” Jack asked. “That Felony guy Rowan got in a fight with?”

“Uh-huh.” Hanna nodded. She looked down at Balto, nervously holding her hand out in front of his nose. “Hey, buddy. It's okay, the monster’s gone.” Balto just gruffed and moved away from her hand.

“Is Rowan okay?” Jack asked after a moment of thick silence.

“They're fine,” Awsten assured, “Just exhausted.”

Jack took in a shaky breath.  “Are you sure?”

That got everyone's attention. Balto had now growled louder, scampering away from Jack and getting in front of Kath and Neha, right next to Jack, who was holding his head and breathing heavily, eyes squeezed tight shut.

“Woah, Jack!” Neha reached for him, but Balto let out a deafening bark, backing up nearer to Awsten and Hanna. “Jack, what's going on?”

“I don't know!” His voice was so panicked, none of them caught his lying tone. “I-I know him from somewhere, I've seen him before!”

“What are you talking about?” Awsten demanded, trying to force the fear out of their voice. When Jack didn't answer, the repeated: “Jack, what do you mean?”

“I…” Jack looked at the four, eyes now wide and terrified. "I didn't mean it, I didn't-" 

-wait.

Those eyes are red.


	7. Why can't we be firneds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack explains some shit lmao

Time seemed to stand still. The only movement was Jack, who was struggling to stand as a wiry black tail unfurled from his back. Large fangs grew into his mouth, cutting past his lower lip. From under his hoodie, his wings rustled.

Awsten was the first to move. They edged backwards to the door, but instead of open it and bolt out, they turned the lock to click it shut.

“I'm sorry,” Jack said, voice thick with a sob. “I-I was meaning to tell you guys, but… I didn't know how to bring it up.” He let himself laugh, sinking down to his knees on the hard floor. “Hey, guys, best friends of my entire life, I'm a fucking demon. Not sure it would have gone over well.”

“How’d it happen?” Awsten asked, “Did Steve have something to do with it?” The question rang in the air. Of all questions, that was the one to make Jack freeze with the knowledge he was found out. Damn, Awsten really hit the nail on the head. In the silence that followed, the only noise was Jack stifling his sobs and a general uncomfortable hum.

“It was a few months back. When I hit that really weird spot in life, remember? Around last December, I was calling you guys like crazy. So, um… I dunno what happened. My mind was just off somewhere. I was just walking on the street, and… Steve showed up.”  Neglecting to note his fangs, he bit down on his lip as he continued his story. “Damn idiot I was, he was led me into a deal. Countless years of happiness if I just… I don't even remember what it was.” On the floor, Phil rolled over to paw at Jack’s knee, almost in a comforting manner. “No matter what I do, I can't remember what it was I did.” The air was uncomfortable, and he instinctively licked blood--rather, black stuff that  _ looked _ like blood-- off his lip, where it was pooling under his fangs. Right next to him, Balto slumped down, resting his head in Jack’s lap. “On the topic of memory, I think he wiped it. ‘Least, that's the only thing I can think that he did. ‘Least… I think. Eh, fuck it. Dunno anything after that.” 

He leaned back on his palms, trying to read his friends’ expressions, who all sat around him with crossed legs. Awsten was somberly looking down, as if they had seen where the story was going. Hanna had nothing but sympathy for her friend she had just met in person. Even so, she's known Jack long enough to know he definitely doesn't deserve this shit. Damn the author for traumatizing this poor boy. Hey fuck off he gets a happy ending ok. 

Neha and Kath were both clearly upset, maybe a bit shocked still, taking in the fact that demons are in fact real, and they were sitting right in front of one. 

Jack grunted, pulling at his hoodie, then yanking it off and stretching his wings spastically. “Fucking things,” he hissed, grabbing at the left one to hold it still.

“Jack…” Kath whispered, “Are you okay? With all of this?”

“None of it,” Jack answered, now grabbing the other spazzing wing. “I… I get hungry, and I can’t even eat human food anymore. I just eat whatever he brings me, which is usually fucking disgusting.”

“Wait, he?” Hanna asked, “He… he still comes to you?”

“About every week,” Jack said. “I saw him come in, and I thought he told you guys everything.”

Awsten scoffed. “He doesn’t tell us shit,” they said, “Unless we actually beat him at something.”

Jack sighed heavily, bringing his legs out from under him to raise to his chest. “I should have told you guys sooner.” He hugged his knees as his stomach let out a low growl. “God, I’m fucking hungry.”

“Is there anything we can do?” Neha asked, seeming seconds away from panic, but held it together. 

Jack hesitated, biting his lip again. Then, with a soft voice: “Go check on Rowan. I’m just getting a bad feeling right now, and you left them all alone?”

“We can’t leave  _ you _ alone!” Kath objected as Jack rose to his feet. 

“I’ll be fine,” Jack said with a pained grin. Both dogs hopped up and circled him with a happy smile. Cute lil pupper smiles you know how it be “Seriously, I’ll be-”

His words were cut off by a sharp hiss as he keeled over, black blood dripping from his chin. The dogs were less happy about that. Balto whined, skittering backwards and into Awsten and Hanna, forcing them up and nudging them to the door. Honeylemon started yapping, which made Phil anxious as he found solace under the couch. Jack fell to his side, curled up with a pained expression.

“Jack!” Hanna pushed past Balto, kneeling down. “Jack, what’s wrong?”

“Hanna,” Awsten warned, “C’mon, get away from him-”

“Hey…” Neha and Kath now joined Awsten’s side, both equally concerned. “The hell is going on?”

“Hanna,” Awsten said again, now more warning to the  edge of their voice. “Hanna, get away from him.”

Hanna didn’t listen, too concerned for her friend. A memory flashed back to her: Trying to wake up Rowan, but Rowan snapping and hissing at her. She dejectedly stood up, backing away from Jack, still painfully curled up. “What’s wrong with him?”

“Probably hunger pangs,” Awsten replied. “I’ve been doing some reading about demons ever since I found out about Felony Steve. Him being a demon and us being human, it’s best if we just get the hell out of here.”

“And just let him starve?” Kath exclaimed. You know like that one meme.

“No, he won’t starve for too long.” Awsten took a brave step forward, still letting Balto guard them in front. “He said it’s been a few months. If Steve hasn’t killed him yet, he must want him for something.”

Jack groaned, rolling over onto his back. His eyes fluttered open, still a piercing, glowing red. Those red eyes stared directly at Awsten. And from the floor, he spoke.

“You’re such the fucking genius, aren’t you? Awsten Knows-A-Lot.”

“I never said that,” Awsten said, a waver of fear in their voice. They backed up as Jack sat up, wings a crooked, splayed out mess on the floor and their smile terrifying. “Jack, c’mon.”

“Since you know everything, you must know that  y’all better run, right? Run away from scary ol’ Jackie.”

“You’re our friend,” Hanna insisted. “We’re not running.”

“Speak for yourself,” Kath said, her voice high with fear, “I’ll be in the car.” She took a quick pace to the door, slamming it shut behind her. 

“Y’all better follow suit.” Jack’s voice was less cynical, more anxious. Phil had a clawed paw on his leg, as if he was trying to keep him in place. “Hurry up, please.”

“You could come along,” Hanna offered, starting forward again and extending her hand to help Jack up. “Come on, I’m not gonna feel comfortable leaving you home like this.”

Jack started to extend his hand, but paused, gritting his teeth. Must be the hunger, he hasn’t had Chipotle in months. God damn he misses Chipotle. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm chipotleeeeeeee.

Hanna had had enough of waiting, and reached forward to grab his hand. “Jack-”

Jack snapped. He screeched and ripped his hand away, leaping to his feet, ready to charge. He would have if Balto didn't bark and knock him back.

“Hanna-” Awsten reached forward and snatched her wrist, “We’re leaving.”

“Run!” Jack laughed, as if this was just a game. He pushed past his dog and charged again, but Awsten shoved him back regrettably. It looked like Jack was battling himself, fighting on whether to stop himself or kill them. Now, his voice was softer, “Please, run!”

They didn’t waste any more time, trusting that the animals would keep him in check. They joined Kath in the car, and as soon as the last door shut she backed out of the driveway and started back home. “Awsten and Hanna,” she addressed, “Care to explain why Jack just tried to kill us?”

“It’s confusing demon things,” Awsten said. “Felony Steve turned him into a demon for some fuckin’ reason, probably to use him for whatever.”

“Is he in trouble?” Neha asked, turning back to look at them.

“Probably,” Awsten admitted. “There might be a way to reverse it if we back Steve into a corner. For now, let’s make sure Rowan is okay. Jack will be fine.”

“Why the heck did he even go after Jack?” Hanna asked, “Like, he has nothing to do with this! Neither do Schelle, Laur, Em and Jess.” She crossed her arms, slumping in her seat. “It’s not fair for you guys, this is our problem.”

“No clue,” Awsten muttered, “He’s a sick person. Does what he wants.”

“Piece of shit,” Kath muttered, “making Jack suffer like that. Who the hell does he think he is?”

Pretty sure that was a rhetorical question, as the rest of the ride home was in tense silence.

They were quick to open the door, but Rowan was right where they left them: On the couch asleep. Right in the position they were left, too: Back pressed against the arm of the couch with arms hugged around their stomach.

“Rowan,” Awsten called out loudly, “Rowan, wake up.”

Surprisingly, they woke up after just that. “Hm?” they murmured, suppressing a yawn. “Oh, hey, guys. What’s up?”

“Did anything happen while we were gone?” Neha asked urgently. “We need to know.”

“I’ve been asleep the whole time.” Rowan sat up more, rubbing a hand through their hair. “So, if something did happen, I slept through it.” They looked at their faces, waking up more. “What’s up with Jack? I can tell something’s wrong.”

There was hesitation in the hair before Hanna spoke: “Felony Steve turned him into a demon. he snapped at us and tried to kill us.”

Rowan froze up, looking for any sign of a joke. All of their faces were somber and serious. “What the fuck?” They whispered. “What about Felony, did you see him there?”

Neha nodded. “He just said that we had one down, four to go. It wasn’t until he left that Jack told us.”

“We’re asking if anything happened because Jack was really worried about you,” Awsten said, “Are you okay? LIke, do you feel anything different?”

Rowan paused, looking down and rubbing their shirt between their fingers. “No, I just feel tired. Which I’m blaming on that fight, by the way. Adrenaline crash is a thing, right?”

“Probably,” Neha said. “You sure you’re okay, though?”

“I’m alright,” Rowan promised. “Really, I’m starting to wake up for real now.”

“I’ll text Jack, then,” Kath said, whipping out her phone. 

“Is Jack okay?” Rowan asked once everyone was seated anxiously. “Like, with the whole demon thing, is he okay?”

“Not exactly,” Awsten admitted. “According to him, he can’t eat actual food and he has to wait on Felony to get him something. He seemed really hungry when we left.” They looked down with a bit lip.

“Rowan just sighed. “I’ll let you guys know if I feel like a demon, okay? I’ll be fine.” They said it with uncertainty as they sunk back into their spot on the couch. The truth was, they didn’t think they could deal with the backlash if they really became a demon. ADHD was shit, and so was the RSD that came with it. Being a demon couldn’t be something  _ that _ hard to hide, right? Jack hid it for MONTHS, Rowan just had to hold out until all this blew over if it happened. 

This wouldn’t take long. They would get their friends back where they belonged, and none of this would matter.


	8. BITCH

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> BITCH

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BITCH

The next day, Jack was fine. It was as if nothing happened yesterday, and Neha invited him over around night time for dinner (I think she forgot about the whole “Jack can't eat human food anymore and has to rely on the person they're rebelling against for food” thing), as well as to help devise a plan to find someone else in Flesh of ‘18. He arrived in his hoodie and shorts from yesterday, but once he was through the door, he didn’t try to hide his wings, horns or tail. Now that they knew, and Felony had fed him, he was  _ much _ more content in front of his friends. While he was there, he was filled in on exactly what the deal entailed.

“Okay,” Rowan said, situating the whiteboard and plate of Pizza Hut and Doritos in front of them. They, as well as Awsten and Hanna, had recently showered so they weren’t gross from days of demon-dealing, and had changed into fresh clothes. Now, Rowan was comfortable in sweatpants and the baggy rib-showing shirt Neha mentioned the first day they arrived here. Hanna looked snug in basketball shorts and a shirt with a pug on the front, and Awsten opted for short shorts and a big sweater. Cute little sweaterpaws completed the look. Kath had her hair in a short ponytail, and she had a simple white shirt and pajama pants. Neha had pulled her hair into a puffy ponytail, with several strands falling over her shoulders, wearing one of Awsten’s sweaters (with permission) and gray sweatpants. They formed a circle of pizza, doritos, and whiteboards to make a plan. “I think we’re all set.” yknow out of context it sound like they're about to do some summoning ritual.

“Who should we look for first?” Hanna asked. “We have four people to find in three weeks.”

Rowan paused, taking a bite of pepperoni goodness before writing  _ ‘SCHELLE’  _ across the top of their whiteboard “So, maybe we should start with Schelle? She was the first one Felony said after Jack.”

“So we’re going by order?” Hanna asked, “Okay, in that case, I’ll plan for Laur.” 

“I got Jess,” Awsten said, “You three could plan for Em?” They looked at Neha, Kath and Jack. “I don’t think we should exclusively look for just one member at a time.”

Kath nodded in agreement, scoffing at her open laptop, which was softly streaming Lofi Hip-Hop beats. Those funky fucking beats. “I might be a little sidetracked, we got people asking about the fight with Felony.”

Right. Of course people were livetweeting the whole thing, posting pictures and all. There were about twenty threads Kath told people to delete, but that was probably just a portion. AltPress and Rocksound has been emailing Kath like a shitstorm.

Jack took the whiteboard, ruffling his wings in confusion. “Okay, how are we gonna do this without people thinking there’s something wrong?”

“Could we make a tumblr post or something?” Rowan asked, starting to write. “Twitter?”

“I dont think so,” Hanna said, “how are we gonna explain that we’re looking for someone, who probably doesn’t know us? That’ll raise a few flags.”

“Plus, we’d look like serial killers,” Awsten added. They raised their hands up, as if reading a headline. “Hey, we’re looking for these people in particular! Nothing is wrong and we can’t tell you why!”

“Okay, true.” Rowan erased writing, raising the marker to heir mouth and chewing on the cap instinctively. They realized what they were doing pretty quick and took another bite of pizza instead. “Um…”

“Their only interest wasn’t Waterparks,” Hanna said, “Schelle likes Five Seconds Of Summer right? Maybe we could go through the tags on tumblr and wee if we can find her there.”

“Hey, nice.” Rowan smiled at her and wrote  _ ‘5SOS, CHECK TUMBLR’  _ on the board.  “Um, Jess really liked Set It Off. Basically as much as I did. Laur was a fan of As It Is, right?’ At Hanna’s nod, Rowan took another bite of ‘za. “Em… She didn’t really talk a lot, did she? Not that I remember, at least.”

“You barely remember things as is,” Hanna joked, and dodged a dorito hurled at her precious hair.   
“We don’t have a lot to go off of.” Neha looked down, then bit into her Pizza. Then she looked at Awsten, who was picking burnt scraps off their crust. “You okay, Aws?”

Awsten shrugged, shaking their foot. “It’s just… last time I had a sleepover, Felony kidnapped us. I’m just getting really strong deja vu. And I’m a little on-edge with this whole thing. That’s all.”

Jack looked up at that, then stood up and walked to the window looking out into the street. “I’ll be a bodyguard,” He said. “I’ll make sure y’all have plenty of time to get out if he shows up.” He lifted a wing as a salute to the five on the floor.

Rowan nodded in understanding, turning back to the whiteboard. “Okay, I’ll start the tumblr search for Schelle.” They pulled up Tumblr on their phone, munching on a Dorito like they always did: Corners first, then sides, then the rest. What a fuckin’ wierdo. Who the fuck eats doritos like that? Apparently this fucko.

Everyone else decided Twitter and Tumblr were good places to search for the members, which would have been seamless if their phones weren’t blowing up every second. Kath lead a search on Twitter for Em, glad that the notifications of her laptop weren’t as interrupting. It was quiet as they slowly made the pizza and the doritos disappear, the silence only filled with those good ol’ Lofi Hip-Hop Beats To Relax Or Study To.

Jack kept an eagle eye out the window, the only moment being his tail flicking back and forth, almost boredly. Still, he was glad that it was boring, because that meant nobody was in trouble. Hs eyes were about to close from exhaustion when he saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye. 

Then, one by one, streetlights flickered out, blocking the figure of whatever was coming towards the house.

“Guys,” Jack warned, “Get to a hiding place. Something’s coming.”

Kath shut her laptop, getting to her feet. “Is it Felony?” 

Jack’s stomach twisted as he shook his head. “No, it… this feels different.”

“Whatever it is, we should hide in case,” Rowan announced, tossing their phone face down. “Get under your bed, under a blanket, something.” Then, with nothing else, they darted out the room.

Everyone got into hiding spots around the house, and Jack wished he could join them in hiding, but he had to see whatever this was. If it was a threat, he could last a bit longer her in battle. 

Quickly, he made his way down the stairs, stopping a few feet away from the front door. He felt his stomach riling, and he would have gagged if he wasn't so determined to stay fierce. 

He flinched back when there was a frantic scratching at the door. It was an animalistic scratching, like a raccoon desperate to claw open the packaging on some garbage. Who knew what Hell abomination was behind that door trying to get in? 

Of course, the author knows. But like hell (hehe) would they say what it is. That would kill the tension, and they didn’t want to break the fourth wall.

Jack creeped toward the door, fangs bared. He had stretched his wings out to appear larger. His hand rested on the doorknob for a moment before forcing down bile and bringing forth his courage to fling the door open. Immediately, he was tackled to the ground by a strong animal, possibly bigger than himself.

Wait a second. Just a minute, a diddly-dang moment, what the H-E-double-hockeysticks is going on here!!!

“Balto!?” Jack practically screamed, trying to push the dog of of him. But, the puppo just wanted to lick Jack’s face, whining happily. “What the hell, how did you get here?” As Jack was asking the dog questions, he noticed the raw, red spot on the top of his head. “Buddy, what happened?”

Balto gruffed, sniffing Jack’s face as a response. Jack stood up, now realizing Phil and Honeylemon had joined Balto, but were fine chilling on the porch. Once Balto looked at them, they came inside and greeted Jack with their own enthusiasm. 

“Guys!” Jack called upstairs, “It’s okay! You can come out!”

Slowly, the girls and enby (Rowan was probably passed out somewhere lmao) had come down the stairs, worry written over their faces, which slowly dawned to confusion.

“What are the dogs doing here?” Neha asked, then added, “And the cat?”

“I dunno,” Jack answered honestly, rubbing the red spot on Balto’s head. “Looks like they got in a fight with something.”

Awsten stepped back from the scene, hand on their chin. “How’d they know where the house is?”

“No clue,” Jack murmured, scratching behind Balto’s ear, silently contemplating.

Then, he watched in horror as a clump of flesh and fur came away with his hand.

Everyone backed up in a silent horror, Jack’s breathing almost turning into a whine as Balto and Honeylemon both literally shed their skin. Phil seemed calm, not moving from his sitting position as he licked his paw and scratched it over his head.

In the dog’s place sat red and black monsters, both the same size and as clearly bigger than even Balto. Long, twisted black spines grew along the crown of their heads, down to their tails.

“They’re hellhounds!” Awsten exclaimed. Instead of horror, they said it as if they should know better. “God dammit, of course!”

“Hellhounds?!” Neha cried back, “What?!”

“It… makes sense,” Jack mumbled, still taken aback. Though they looked similar, they both had chain collars around their necks, along with nametags reading their names. “I… a few weeks after Felony turned me into a demon, I asked if I could at least have some company, and that’s when he gave me the dogs.”

“You said you got them at the shelter,” Kath said in disbelief. 

“I couldn’t exactly tell you about the demon thing, remember?” Jack smiled and held a hand out. The hounds seemed to be happy, as Balto came forward and liked Jack’s hand with a tongue made of dripping oil. “Wow, he disguised you guys real good, huh?”

“ _ Please  _ tell me that doesn’t stain,” Neha said, looking at the inky black pool forming on the carpet. “I-I mean, at this point I should be immune to this demon thing, right? Whatever, they exist. Balto and Honeylemon aren’t gonna snap and hurt us, are they?”

Jack looked to the hounds, trying for an answer. “No, I don’t think so.” He stood up, brows knit. “Wait, where’s Rowan?” Like I said, probably sleeping somewhere lmao.

“I thought they followed me,” Awsten said, “We were in the same hiding spot.”

“Here I am!” Rowan called, racing down the stairs. “Sorry, I fell aslee-” They stopped at the last step, eyes trained on the hellhounds. “What… what is that.” (lmao told u they fell asleep) The hounds perked up, Honeylemon sticking her tongue out and dripping onto the floor.

“Um… My dogs are kinda hellhounds,” Jack explained. “That’s Balto, that’s Honeylemon.” He pointed to each hound upon introduction, reaching out afterwards and petting both their heads. Turns out the black was actually their fur, it was just short and sparse. They felt kinda good and fuzzy! They’re good hounds!! :D

“Woah, okay.” Rowan tentatively stepped down, joining Hanna and Awsten.

“This might sound weird, but they’re still kinda cute,” Hanna said, “Might be just me, though.”

“No, you’re right,” Jack said, “They’re still my adorable little pups. Just looking a little different.”

“Okay, but still,” Neha said, disgustedly pointing at the back oozing pool coming from their mouths, “Is that gonna stain? Am I gonna have to clean up hellhound goo?”

Jack looked at the pool, then the ogs. “Balto! Honeylemon! No drooling on the carpet!” He chastised with a high voice used for a puppy in training. Immediately, they both licked their mouths and stopped. “Okay, lay down!” They did. “...Roll over?” Fuck dude they sure did.

“So they’re trained!” Kath said, “Neat. Um, do you think they could help us look for Flesh Of ‘18?”

“Possibly,” Jack said, motioning for them to stand. When they did, they came to be taller than jack, their chests bumping into his face. “Holy shit, you guys are big!”

“Okay, Phil.” Rowan looked at the cat with a lazy smile. “Kitty, what are you hiding?” Phile responded with a lick to his chest, trying to stay clean.

“I’m sure Phil is completely cat,” Jack said. “But that still doesn’t explain how you guys knew where I was.” Honeylemon twitched her ear, unmoving otherwise. Balto was rock still.

“I’m sure I can explain that.”

Okay, Awsten has had enough of this thot. “Come the fuck out,” They called, and Felony Steve made himself known, right beside Jack. “What do you want?”

“I hope you guys like the little surprise,” Felony said with his signature asshole grin. Now, he took his shades off and stuffed them in his pocket, letting his red eyes gleam for everyone to see. “Tell me, on a scale of one to ten, how much did they surprise you?”

“Eh. ‘bout a six.” Jack shrugged and pushed him back a bit. “On a scale from one to ten, how much do you wanna get beat today?” At his words, both of the hounds turned their fiery gaze to Felony.

“Hey, hey now! I'm not the one trying to get all violent. I just wanna talk. Isn't that what you're all about?”

Neha shakily stepped forward, trying he best to hide her anxiety. “Okay. Let's talk about you leaving. I think it's a good idea.”

“Me too,” Rowan quipped. “Get the fuck out.”

“What, before I give this to you?” Felony reached into his coat and pulled out a little leather pouch, the bottom stained with red. “I didn’t want this witch hunt to be completely unfair. But, if you’re gonna be a little bitch to me…” He went to stuff the pouch in his coat again, but Balto snuffed and grabbed it with his teeth, spearing Felony’s hand in the process. “Ow! Christ, you fuckin’ mutt!” He grabbed his black oozing hand, and in a moment, the wound healed, leaving a scar.

“Good boy!” Jack praised, taking the pouch and patting Balto’s head. “Anyway, what is this?” He undid the knot tying it shut and peeked inside. “Yeah, uh, what the hell is this?”

“Take a good ol’ whiff, demon boy,” Felony hissed, glaring at Balto. “With these things, you’ll find your buddy Schelle in no time.”

Jack recoiled after smelling it, tossing the bag down. “Oh, fucking gross! What the hell is your problem!?”

“What is it?” Hanna asked, panic rising in her voice. She timidly crept forward and took the bag, looking at Jack, who had a hand over his mouth, not bothering to fix his glasses. Balto and Honeylemon both snarled at Felony, black ooze dripping from their mouths again. She looked inside the bag with a twisted expression.

“Don’t worry,” Felony said, “She grew it back!”

“Grew  _ what _ back!?” Awsten demanded, taking their turn with looking in the bag.

“It’s Schelle’s tongue,” Jack gagged. Awsten jumped, closing the bag shut. “What the fuck, man!?”

“Hey, you wanna find your buddies, right? Everyone else’s are hidden ‘round Houston. Better find them before someone else does.” Felony turned to leave, but stopped to look at Jack. “Don’t worry, Jackie. I’ll bring enough to feed the both- er, the three of you.”

With a flicker of lights, he was gone.

Well, there’s the plot for the next few chapters! Let’s see what our characters have to say!!

“What the fuck…” Rowan tore a hand through their hair, suppressing a yawn. “Who the hell does he think he is?”

“As gross as this is,” Kath started, staring at the bag in Awsten’s hands. “It’s a clue, right?”

“Maybe.” Jack stood up, leaning on Honeylemon. “So, wait. Can the dogs track scent, or something?” He looked up at the big doggo, and she just gruffed and nudged his cheek.

“Uh,” Rowan started, “Don't you think we should look for the other ones Felony mentioned? Before somebody else finds a disembodied tongue in a bag?”

“True,” Hanna agreed. “It's dark out, though. Might be a little suspicious seeing a bunch of people running around town at night.”

“We’ll start looking first thing tomorrow,” Kath said. “Jack, do you wanna stay over for the night?”

“Sure.” Jack nodded. “As much as I trust the dogs to keep me safe, I don't feel comfortable being home alone with Felony running around.” He looked back at the pups, who were looking down at him expectantly. “I'll crash on the couch.”

“I'm tired,” Rowan mumbled right after a yawn, gritting their teeth together for a second. “G’night.” With that, they turned and trudged back up the stairs with a wave. Soon after, everyone else followed their lead.

It was a nice night. Nobody intruded (who would with two giant fucking  _ hellhounds _ and a cat guarding the place), and nobody woke up after a nightmare. It seemed as if stuff was finally beginning to calm down and get back on track.

 

LMao nah this is the climax (or rising action idk how long this story is gonna take) it's gonna be a bumpy fucking ride so buckle up and keep ur hands inside the cart at all times


	9. WHAT THE SHIT SHADY

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> LONKI PEEPEE

Okay, these hounds are OP. Pls nerf. Not really so we can get this done but Felony says pls nerf.

Maybe not to OP, because they’re still huge, oil-dripping hellmutts that DEFINITELY would scare pedestrians. Sorry, can’t take the mutts tongue-hunting. Our crew knew that when they went downstairs and Balto and Honeylemon were still those big ol’ puppos and not the smaller big ol’ puppos that looked presentable for the public eye. 

“Wait, can't demons shapeshift?” Awsten had asked, hand running through their hair.

“Shifting takes a lot out of you,” Jack answered. “I barely kept it together for those months. At first it's easy, like you don't even think about the first few days. But… slowly, you start to lose it. It gets harder and harder to control it. With them being dogs, I don't think they think about that kind of thing.”

“What about before, when they were normal dogs?” Hanna quizzed, tentatively reaching forward to pat the dog in front of her but pulled her hand back at the last moment.

“Must have been Felony. He was probably using his powers to disguise them every day.” Jack pet Honeylemon for Hanna, until she was brave enough to touch them.

So, tongue hunting was fruitless today, they couldn’t find any of the leather pouches Felony had Schelle’s tongue in, and if they were in anything else, they didn’t have the hounds to sniff them out. So, a whole day was wasted looking for tongues. Of course, they couldn’t tell anyone what they were looking for, how would you describe it? Yeah, we’re looking for or buddies’ tongues. Yeah, their tongues. Don’t worry, they apparently grew back! Yeah. Not the best conversation starter.

So, Jack had a wonderful idea. He couldn’t sleep, and neither could the dogs. Come to think of it, he wasn’t sure the dogs slept in the first place. Phil was fine curled up on the couch, but Jack had to get out. He should just take the demons and look for the tongues now. He couldn’t stand just pacing in the living room, doing his best to not tear through the carpet with the razor-sharp end of his tail. 

“Balto, Honey,” He quipped restlessly, “Wanna go outside?” Both dogs perked up, snuffing and tilting their heads, bones cracking at the motion. “Wanna help me look for the tongues?” Again, they snuffed, shifting their paws and licking their muzzles. “Okay, buds. One sec- where did my shoes go?” He dropped to his stomach, looking under the couch.

Suddenly the lights dimmed, just for a moment as footsteps creaked down the stairs.

“Hey,” Rowan piped, setting their feet softly down on hardwood at the base of the stairs. “What’re you still doing up?”

Jack retrieved his shoes from under the couch, looking at them as they went to the kitchen, flicking one of the lights on, which flickered out for a moment. “Can’t sleep. I’m gonna take the dogs out and see if we can find the tongues.”

“Be careful,” they warned lowly, sounding tired. They fumbled with the refrigerator door before opening it and staring blankly into its contents, seemingly lost in thought.

“What's with the lights?” Jack asked, looking around the kitchen as the light flickered again.

“‘Dunno,” Rowan replied curtly, reaching down to grab the carton of milk, but then they put it back. “Actually, you mind if I go with you?”

Jack only spared a confused glance as he pulled his shoes on. “Sure. Can’t sleep either?”

“Nope.” Rowan grinned widely, yet still tired, that much was clear. “I’m hopin’ a walk could clear my mind from all this shit.”

“Fine with me.” Jack got his other shoe on, then reached to the couch to pat Phil softly on the head. The cat purred and lifted his head for a moment, smiling at Jack before laying his head back down on his paws. What a fucking cutie, oh my GOD i love cats. Phil is gonna save the entire story I can’t believe this. Pack it up fellas, no more demons, no more flesh of 18. The rest of this story is just Phil.

Lmao jk anyway where was i OH YEA H

The kids walked down the lamp-lit street, hoods over their heads and hounds sticking close. Both pups had their fleshy noses to the ground, sniffing and trailing black ooze, which disappeared into the night darkness.

“Any reason you couldn't sleep?” Jack asked, “Or is it just… all of this?”

“This whole situation is a lot to think about once you sit down and really think about it,” Rowan answered after a moment of silence. “I mean… I might not go home if we don't do this. And, yeah, home life wasn't how I wanted it, but I wasn’t dealing with demons and hellhounds and shit. Stuff was calm. At least if I go back home, I could tell school what I was up to over the summer. I could maybe write a book about it.”

Jack huffed out a laugh. “It would make for a crazy story. Being kidnapped by a demon, suddenly knowing how to play guitar, and then you have to look for all your Internet besties to go back home with the power of friendship.”

“Or the power of demons.” Rowan smiled softly and tucked their hands into their hoodie pocket, looking beside them at Balto, who was snuffing heavily at the ground. “Hanna was right. These guys are pretty cute.”

“Definitely wasn’t what I expected when I asked for company,” Jack added in a tone of agreement. “I’m still confused about what was going on with the lights.”

Rowan hesitated for a moment, seeming to think. Then, they said, “Must have been Felony doing somethin’. Trying to throw us off or whatever.”

“Yeah… I guess.” They lapsed into silence again as Honeylemon veered left in between two brick-face stores. She started whining and pawing at the ground, churning up dirt that decayed into oil whenever she touched it. 

“Woah, hang on. I think Honey’s got something.” Rowan stopped their lazy walk and went past Jack and Balto, yawning irritably as they kneeled down to help Honeylemon dig.

Jack went to go help, but Balto gruffed and lightly bit onto Jack’s hood, keeping him back. His gaze was directed at Rowan, and his eyes were glowing up a storm. “Buddy, what’s wrong?” Jack asked, reaching behind him to detach his hood from the hound’s jaws. “Hey, shh… what’s up?” Balto only replied in a whine as he moved a paw to push Jack back (hehe Rhyme) and start on his own way forward.

Slowly, all the lights in the area twinkled and flickered out.

He nudged, then bit at Rowan’s back, and they responded with a yelp, jerking up and sitting ramrod straight. “Balto! What the heck was that for?” They rubbed their back, wincing. “Your teeth hurt.”

“Balto, hey!” Jack came forward, grabbing the massive chain collar around his neck. “No biting!”

Balto moaned, looking back at Rowan with fierce eyes and bared teeth. I mean, his teeth are always bared bc he doesn’t have gums but you know he makes a snarl face. Now, Honeylemon had stopped digging and was glancing at Rowan with mounting anger. “Woah, hey… easy, hounds. Easy… Uh, Jack? When was the last time they were fed?”

“Balto, Honey,” Jack sternly snapped, “Don’t you dare think about it!”

Rowan kept pawing at the dirt they and Honeylemon had dug up, feeling something other than dirt. They pulled it out of the ground, and it was sure enough a leather pouch. Shakily brushing off dirt, the label read  **‘JESS’** . “H-hey! Whaddaya know? Found Jess’s! Come on, dogs! Why are you looking at me like that?”

Balto’s low moan turned into a snarl, oil waterfalling down the crevices between his teeth, and his eyes glowed bright yellow. Honeylemon was the same, and she took a step closer to Rowan with glaring, narrow eyes. Her mouth was opening wider, wider…

“Honeylemon Marie! Don’t you fucking dare!” You know you’re in trouble when you get middle-named AND cussed at. Balto’s oil goop dripped onto Jack’s shoulder, cascadng onto his jeans as Balto stepped forward, seemin to egg on Honeylemon, telling her to attack.

Her unhinged jaw snapped around Rowan’s arm, just for a quick moment.

Rowan screamed out, dropping Jess’s pouch and scrambling away from the dogs, holding their arm close to their chest. “Honeylemon, what the hell!?”

“Oh, you are in so much trouble, young lady,” Jack hissed, going up to Honeylemon and popping her not-so-gently, not-so-roughly on the nose. “What the hell are you doing!?”

Rowan was shaking and trembling, their hoodie already off to wrap around their arm. “Fuck, she bit me bad...”

“Hey, lemme help.” Jack knelt down, and Rowan flinched back for a moment before letting Jack take off the cloth and then rewrap it more expertly. “Jeez, we should probably get you to a hospital.” There was so much blood, and due to the darkness, it looked black. It spilled over Rowan’s pale skin, getting all on their clothes.

Honeylemon had her ears pinned back, long quills flattened against her body and tail tucked between her legs. She obviously felt bad about hurting Rowan. Balto, however, stood powerful, with his chest puffed out and head held as high as his tail.

“I’m sorry,” Rowan croaked, tenderly feeling the hoodie wrap and looking at the ground. Then, they picked up Jess’s pouch and adjusted to hoodie to fit it in the pocket. Now Rowan has a little pouch!

“Nothin’ to be sorry for. I dunno what got into the hounds,” Jack said, helping Rowan stand. “Probably ‘cuz they haven’t been fed. Whatever, I’m calling Kath to drive us home. You’re not walking with that injury.” Then, he looked up at the hounds: Honeylemon, who was pleading for forgiveness, and Balto, who held resentment in his eyes. “Balto, Honey. Go home.” When they didn’t move, Jack added more force to his voice: “Go. Home.  _ NOW. _ ” Finally, they turned and went on the way home, the lights shutting off wherever they went.

Rowan leaned on Jack, eyes half closed. “So fucking tired,” they muttered.

Jack pulled out his cell, quickly scrolling down the contacts to find Kath’s number. “We’re gonna get you home, don’t worry.” He put the phone to his ear, mumbling, “Please pick up, please pick up…”

“Mmm, hullo?” Kath sounded tired. Of course she was tired, its 1 AM and you just woke her. How rude!

“Kath, thank god,” Jack sighed. He felt tears sting his eyes. “I have good and bad news.”

“Better be important to wake me up like this,” Kath muttered. “What is it?”

“Me and Rowan went out with the hounds to find the tongues, and we found Jess’s. None of the others.”

**IT’S ROWAN AND I**

**_SHUT UP NEHA YOU HAVEN’T FOURTH WALL BROKE SINCE CHAPTER 3, UR NOT EVEN IN THIS CHAPTER CHILL_ **

“That’s great!” Kath had perked up now. “But, what’s the bad news?”

Jack looked at Rowan, now practically asleep. He decided to sit down with Rowan still leaning on him. “Honeylemon bit Rowan, bad. We haven’t ruled out a hospital visit. I sent Balto and Honey home, but Rowan’s passed out. We need you to come pick us up.”

“Oh, shit. I’m on my way, where are you?”

What should have taken fifteen minutes was done in five. Jack doesn’t question how many red lights she ran, he was just relieved that Rowan could sleep somewhere other than the sidewalk. He helped them into the back of the van, then sat beside them and made sure their arm was okay. “Are they okay?” Kath asked, looking past the driver’s seat.

“Passed out, but that’s it. Should we get to a hospital?”

Kath bit her lip, looking at Rowan’s pale face. “How bad is it?”

Jack shrugged. “Pretty bad, from what I saw. I don’t wanna risk more blood loss by unwrapping it.”

“We should head home, then.” Kath reached back and patted Rowan’s hand. “Let them rest up a bit, and if it’s still bad in the morning, we book it to the hospital.”

Jack paused, looking out the window for some kind of sign as to what made the hounds snap. More specifically, he was looking for Felony Steve. That sonuvabitch had to be behind this somehow. Wherever he was, he was probably laughing and pointing at their misery. You could say he’s laughing at……………………………………..misery business. I mean, he  never meant to brag, but he’s got the crew where he wants them now. Woah, it was never his intention to brag, and steal it all away from them now. But God, does it feel so good! Okokok I’m done.

“Jack?” Kath brought Jack back to reality and away from Paramore with a wave of her hand. “Did you hear me?”

“Uh, yeah.” Jack nodded. “Yeah, sounds good.” He gave another affirmative nod to assure Kath to start driving. He then looked over at his friend, who seemed to be breathing normally. That’s good, that means Rowan is not dying, which means they’re alive, which is good. Alive is Good.

As soon as they were home, and Rowan was tucked into bed, Jack still couldn’t sleep. He was fucking exhausted, and Balto and Honeylemon had already fallen asleep, but his mind was whirring off thought after thought.

Then, a familiar voice came from the figure perched on the couch behind him.

“Not how you expected things to turn, huh?”


	10. >:3€

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felony Steve? Getting on MY nerves? It's more likely thank you think! Free PC check now!!

Felony Steve hopped off the couch and levitated between the two hounds, now standing at attention. They didn't look aggressive, just hungry.

“What are you gonna tell me now?” Jack muttered, sitting up and rolling his eyes. “Two down, more to go? Good job getting this far? On a scale of one to ten-”

“Cut the shit, lowlife.” Felony stopped levitating, opting to flip upside down and sit on the ceiling, legs crossed. 

“Not ‘till you quit being a thorn in my side.” Jack stood, craning his neck to look up at Felony. “What do you want?”

“Well, since you're gonna be like that…” He dropped his coat to the floor, unfurling his great wings. From it, dropped a shimmering slab of meat, which fell down to the hounds. “I did bring enough for the three of you, but this one gets it. Have fun starving, shithead.”

Jack felt his stomach ache with hunger as he watched the hounds’ jaws snap and tear at the meat. As much as he denied himself, he was starving. And, even grosser, that actually looked appetizing.

“One day, Jackaroo. One day you're gonna accept your true nature for what you are.”

“And what is that?” Jack immediately snapped, looking back up at Felony. “You turned me into this. This-this-”

“-Demon?” Felony cut off with an all-knowing smirk. “You let me turn you. It was almost too easy.”

“I did  _ not. _ You did something, this is all your fault.”

“A lot of things are my fault, Jack.” He tipped his shades down. “Too many things to count. I kinda wanna keep it like that, so please. Blame me all you want.”

Jack’s chest rose and fell heavier as he surprised the urge to scream. Who knew when the next time Felony would come with food? He couldn't risk even longer without anything to eat.

“Once you've ascended this reality,” Steve started, now pacing the cling as the hounds scruffed up the last of the meal, “You’ll be allowed to eat human food again. You'll even be given jobs like me, making sure you stay in our reality. Your life will be a hell of a lot easier-” he paused to snicker- “if you three just cooperated with me.”

Jack was stunned into silence. He didn't know what came over him, but he seemed to be paralyzed. His mind swam, trying to fight to keep consciousness.

Felony grinned wider his shades now falling off his face as he circled around Jack, setting Phil into a sleeping state when he tried to attack. “Oh, Jack. Pure, Beating-Heart Jack. So pure it actually disgusts me. But, pure stuff is the best. Don’t you agree? I mean, shit. Pure Demon blood is the really good shit. Just wanna drink it like it’s lemonade. Once a demon ascends, it gets all gasoline tasting. Eugh.” He looked back down to the hounds, who had finished up their meal and were looking at Jack. “I think the dogs want dessert.”

Jack tore himself out of the state he was forced into, reeling back and tripping over the couch to get away. “What are you doing?”

Felony deepened his smirk. “Just praising the hounds. It’s a good boy, isn’t he?”

“Why do you keep talking about them like that?” Jack asked. His anger chipped away to hear his reasoning. “There’s two of them.”

“Actually, it’s just one.” Felony made the dogs stand by yanking on their collars, then he set his palms on their bowed foreheads. Slowly, and terrifyingly, they melded into each other and grew larger into one big boy, who had to lay down to fit in the house. “Taking two hounds out of the pits to give to you would have gotten attention. So, I made do with what I had.” With a snap of his fingers, they unfused and were back to their disguised selves. 

Jack knelt down, and Honeylemon crawled into her lap. She seemed happy to be a corgi again. Balto was looking back at Felony, then to Jack with a smile that lolled his tongue out. His mind was firing off thoughts faster than he can comprehend them. “But…”

“But nothin’. You wanted company, I gave it to you.” Another snap of his fingers and they shed their coats and became the horse-sized hellhounds. “All there is to it.”

Jack slumped off his knees and leaned back against the wall, Honeylemon keeping him down by affectionately staying on his lap, wagging her tail. Even  _ more _ things he didn’t understand: He always thought that ‘the three of you’ meant him and the two hounds. But, if the two hounds were actually just  _ one _ houd split in half, then-

“Who’s the third?”

Felony was on his way to the door when Jack asked it softly. “Hm? What was that?”

“You’ve been saying there’s three of us. If the hounds are just one, then who’s the third demon?” He managed to get Honeylemon off his lap  stand. His tail twitched nervously, and his wings started spazzing. “Felony, who’s the third demon?” he asked again when he paused.

Felony’s eyebrows raised behind his shades. “You mean you don’t know?”

“What aren’t you telling us?” Jack snapped His jaw trembled, and his fangs poked a wound into his lower lip. “Tell me, now!”

“But… motherfucker, now you got  _ me _ confused. Just the other day, you said they surprised you at a six.” He stepped back, looking vulnerable for the first time Jack has ever seen him.

“What?” Jack’s stomach fluttered, threatening to throw up nothing. A cold shudder ran through his body, striking at his heart and making it pound faster. “What are you talking about?”

Felony gaped at Jack as if he should know. “Bitch, I’m talking about Rowan! Don’t you guys know?”

Forget a beating heart, Jack’s heart just yeeted out of his chest and died.   _ Rowan? A demon? No, that can’t be right. He’s lying, he’s trying to throw me off. _

The scream upstairs said otherwise. 

Balto sagged Jack’s sleeve with his teeth, pulling him to the stairs in a panic. Jack stumbled at the base of the stairs with Balto whining and moaning, as if urging him to see what the problem was. Jack looked back for a second to nod at Balto, and then he was scrambling up the stairs.

The doors to Rowan’s and Awsten’s rooms were wide open, but Jack saw movement from the corner of his eye in Awsten’s room. Quietly, and holding his wings to keep them from spazzing out, he crept to the doorway, trying to get a good look of the situation.

Rowan was crouched low to the floor, legs scrambling to function as they inched closer to Awsten, pinned to the wall by fear. It was dark, but Rowan’s yellow glow from their eyes shone on a pretty bad wound on Awsten’s shoulder.

Rowan took a shuffle closer, and Jack couldn’t stand by anymore. He let go of his wings and charged. “Awsten, stay down!” He cried, jumping and slamming into Rowan at full force. Awsten took that time to scramble back, trying to keep pressure off their shoulder. 

Rowan hissed and screeched, moving their legs and rabbit-kicking Jack in the stomach, trying to throw him off. Their glowing yellow irises were home to slit pupils and a Hell’s full of rage. “Back off, I found it first!” Their voice wasn’t even theirs anymore, it was a groggy, raspy scream. “Finder’s keepers!”

Jack threw himself off of Rowan, keeping a vice grip on their right arm. “Rowan, calm down! Fight it off!” Then, he turned to Awsten. “Hey, get everyone else out of here ‘till I get them under control!” Awsten wordlessly nodded and darted out of the room. Now, back to Rowan: “Rowan, please. Stop it!”

“Why, so you can just take my shit and leave me to starve? That’s what you want, ain’t it? It’s what he told me you wanted!”

“Felony is lying,” Jack insisted, yanking them back when they tried to pry away. “He wants you to be like this.”

“Bullshit! He said you’d try to turn me away from him. He said this would happen. You're just gonna kill me right? You're just gonna kill me and leave me for your mutts, huh!?”

“No!” Jack spared a glance away at the doorway, where Hanna was running next to Awsten. Seconds later he heard their footsteps clambering down the stairs, and then Hanna crying out for Kath and Neha. “Rowan please… you can fight it off. Don't give him what he wants.”

Rowan paused. They held a low hiss in their throat, shifting and still trying to pull away from Jack.

“This isn't you,” Jack continued, voice soft. “You're not a monster like he wants you to be. You're Rowan, the witty little kid your friends love.”

Rowan turned the hiss into a growl. They snatched at Jacks wrist with their free arm, breathing heavily.

“Easy, buddy.” Jack shifted, pulling Rowan’s claws away from his vital veins. “Calm down.”

Rowan’s heaving chest slowed, their eyes flickering in and out of brightness.

“That's it… c’mon, fight him off.” Jack smiled softly, holding Rowan’s hand with both of his. “Good job.”

“I… Jack? What's going on?” Rowan voice was rumbling still, but it sounded like them at least. 

Jack sighed with relief. He finally looked up to the doorway to see Neha with a rope in her hands, looking to pounce on Rowan if needed. Her terrified eyes found Jack, and he quickly shook his head, also removing his hand from Rowan’s to cut across his neck.  _ NO! NO PUT THAT DOWN I JUST CALMED THEM DOWN! PLEASE NO! WE DON'T NEED RESTRAINTS!!!!!!!! _

Rowan looked up, then behind them to Neha, who gasped and staggered backwards. “Jack, what's going on?” their wings started twitching, the skinny, curled spikes coming dangerously close to their own throat. “What are you doing?”

“Rowan, hey-” Jack took their hand again as their eyes lit up. “Hey, buddy, please stay calm-”

“-You  _ were  _ trying to starve me!” Rowan hissed, the gravel finding its way back into their voice as they ripped their hand away with a surge of strength, getting to their trembling feet.

“No, no no no!” Jack stood up, shooting a panicked look at Neha. “No, that was just in case you tried to-”

“-Tried to what? Tried to survive with you freaks!? I'm fucking starving.” They set foot close to jack with a roar escaping their throat. “I  _ need  _ some fucking food!”

“Rowan!” Jack dodged their attempt at an injury, baring his fangs, hoping Neha would get the message and step back. “Rowan, Jesus fucking Christ. Calm! The hell! Down!” He punctuated each exclamation with another dodge as Rowan flurried towards him. 

Rowan responded with another roar and the author responded with alliteration. Finally, they managed to land a hard hit on Jack, making him cry out and stumble back, tripping over Awsten’s bed. “If you won't let me get my fuckin’ food, I guess I'll just settle for you.”

“You talk too much.” Jack surged forward and shoved them back. He didn't want to hurt his friend, but this demon version was really pissing him off.

“Finally, a fight!” Rowan cracked their arms as they rolled them, as if they were anticipating this. “You gonna fight me? Better make it count. Better make it hurt. Better kill me in one shot. If you don't-”

As soon as Rowan lunged, a rope snared around their neck, yanking them back like a coliseum animal. “Jack, get back!” Neha yelled, shoving Rowan onto their stomach. “Or, help me!” She tried getting a knot tied around their neck while also deflecting attacks by their wings.

Jack got up while panting heavily, snatching their flailing wings and holding them away from her. “You're just gonna tire yourself out,” Jack said to Rowan, yanking on their wings to get them to stop thrashing. With a yelp, they settled down and opted for vicious growling.

Neha was breathing just as hard by the time they had the leash of sorts around their neck. Jack took it and node a silent thank you to Neha as she got up, trying to keep her hair out of her face. He looked to the doorway to see Kath, Awsten and Hanna crowded around the doorway, each in their own silent, sad shock.

“What the fuck is happening?” Neha asked, breaking the silence. “Jack, did you know about this?”

“Not until Felony spilled it a few minutes ago,” Jack replied, watching warily as Rowan struggled to their feet, glowing eyes pointing daggers at the floor. “I know just as much as you.” he looked over to the three approaching them. “Awsten, what were they doing in your room?”

“I don't know.” Awsten nervously held onto Hanna’s hand. “They shook me awake, and then started attacking me. I dunno what happened.”

“Lemme go,” Rowan hissed, “I'm hungry.”

“Not a chance.” Jack tightened his hold on the rope. “You are staying somewhere you won't be able to get out until you cool your shit.”

“Gimme somethin’ to eat, and I'll think about it.” they looked up, pointed stare meeting Jack’s eyes.

“They could stay in the attic until all of this blows over,” Kath piped up. “Until we can get something for them to eat.”

Rowan hissed again, pulling against their restraint. Jack grunted, smacking them upside the head. “Sounds good to me.”

In the drafty attic, Rowan had their neck, arms, wings and tail tied up to a sturdy support beam. Despite being strong, they were still a kid. Couldn't break out of this one. “There,” Jack huffed, ruffling Rowan’s hair, which earned a bite. “Stay. We’ll get you something, just chill out here for a while.”

“You can't keep me here forever,” they rasped, not even bothering with tugging at their restraints. They were tired. 

“I'm not planning to.” Jack stepped away from Rowan. “Just until you come back to us, buddy.”

He left the attic with Rowan howling in rage, which was muffled to nothing as soon as the door shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to read back and see if you can catch all the foreshadowing because I foreshadowed the FUCK out now demon Rowan


End file.
